Competition
by xPurpleGod
Summary: Giovanni rises to power one year earlier, and through a chain of events, Kanto and everything around it is put into danger. Delia Ketchum knows that things will only get more dangerous for her son and bids her home goodbye, moving to a faraway region that hides a danger much greater. There is one who can take this danger though, and his name is Ash Ketchum.
1. Beginnings

**So this is my first major story I'm uploading. Gonna keep the author notes to a minimum so the word count isn't messed up.**

**Edit 10/26/19: Combined chapters 1 & 2 to make the story more immersive and give a better first impression. I started out writing only around 5k words.**

Ash Ketchum had grown up wanting a Charizard so that he could steamroll anyone in his way and become the next Indigo League champion. Those hopes were dashed when he had to move to Unova.

He remembered seeing it on the television in his cozy home in Pallet Town. The Viridian gym leader Giovanni, whom he looked up to so much and all but worshipped his powerful beasts of Pokémon, had been outed as a dangerous member of the crime syndicate Team Rocket. In fact, they had found out that he had founded the horrible organization and was the leader at the head of it all.

Normally, this would not be a reason to panic and leave the entire region, but Giovanni had an ace up his sleeve that very few had seen, and even fewer had been able to tell the tale. An abomination said to be created by Team Rocket's best scientists names Mewtwo. They used the mythical Pokémon Mew's DNA to create something new and powerful and had supposedly taken out Ace Trainer's Pokémon without moving a muscle.

Again not many people knew about this, or they would be fleeing in terror. One of these few people was, of course, a man by the name of Samuel Oak. There were few people he still truly trusted and cared about, but one of them was Delia Ketchum.

He also remembered the conversation he had definitely not eavesdropped on. "I have lived here my whole life, what could possibly make me move out of Kanto?" His mother asked, baffled. Professor Oak only needed to say one word to convince her, "Mewtwo".

Enough dwelling on the past, Ash had much better things to do right now, like choosing his starter that he wanted. He had three choices from the extremely rare Pokémon that he would be offered from Alder.

Yes, that's right, Alder, not Professor Juniper like so many got their starter from nowadays. Ever since it was revealed that Hilbert, the boy who saved Unova just a year before he arrived, grew up in Nuvema Town and got his starter from Professor Juniper, many wanted the famed starters just like their hero had gotten. Nuvema Town had gone through many changes, as many new trainers were coming through every day to get their starter Pokémon or experienced ones letting their Pokémon they couldn't have in their party reside there.

Alder was to come by Aspertia City the next day and give starter Pokémon to Ash and two of his friends, Rosa and Hugh. Rosa was a sweet girl who was mainly focused on capturing many Pokémon that she could be friends with. Hugh was a lot different, as he wanted the strongest team possible to make up for the time that he was weak and wasn't able to save his little sister's Purrloin. They would both be doing the gym circuit, as was Ash.

Ash had a lot to think about as he watched the exhibition match between Shauntal and Caitlin of the Elite Four. It was down to the wire, a facedown between Shauntal's Chandelure and Caitlin's Gothitelle, both powerhouses that very few could match. Chandelure was using Will-o-Wisp on Gothitelle, about to burn it badly when his TV suddenly turned off.

Ash looked around for his remote until he found it in his mother's hands. "Ash! You should be asleep by now! Tomorrow is a big day for you." His mother scolded. Ash didn't look different at all though, if not a little more hyper now.

"I can't sleep, Mom! I've been waiting for this day for so long now, and it's so close I can't stand it!"

His mother's face softened, "Ash, I know you're excited, but just wait one more night. Now get your sleep, you don't want to be all groggy tomorrow!"

"Alright Mom, I'll go to sleep." Ash relented, laying down in his bed as his lights turned off, leaving the room illuminated only by the moonlight seeping through his curtains.

Just saying you would go to sleep doesn't make it happen, and Ash was still awake, hyper as before. He started to daydream about the possible starters he could get.

"What if I got Tepig," Ash whispered to himself. In his mind, he pictured a great Emboar punching his way through vines that sprung out at him from the ground. Emboar was very strong, thus it's fighting typing along with fire.

"Or maybe Snivy." His mind showed the source of these vines that attacked Emboar, being a Serperior. Serperior was extremely quick and could weaken its opponents with its wide move pool. A pillar of water shot out at her, but she was barely affected, being a grass type.

"Oh, but what about Oshawott." The pillar of water that was aimed at Serperior was formed by none other than Samurott. Samurott was all about precise moves and using every advantage it had. He attacked Emboar and easily shook off the flames that he shot at Samurott. He used Surf, forming a wave that could pass as a tsunami and engulfing Emboar.

These thoughts tired Ash's brain out enough for him to fall asleep. He awoke to his alarm clock he had from Kanto. Ash realized that he had fallen asleep during his fantasies and shot out of bed. He put on his clothes and ran down the stairs.

His mother was already waiting down there for him with breakfast made. "Good morning honey." She greeted him. She looked back from her daily newspaper and found that Ash was already shoveling food down his throat at extremely fast rates. He tried to say good morning back to her, but it came out as a series of mumbles.

Within five minutes he was done with his breakfast and ready to head out to the meetup spot they had set up a few weeks back. Ash looked at his mom and hugged her, whispering, "Bye Mom." She looked back at him and smiled as he ran off. She waved goodbye to him goodbye, but he was already halfway down the block, sprinting like a Tauros.

Hugh walked out of his house with his little sister right on his tail and saw Ash. "Hey, Ash! Slow down!" Hugh shouted, trying to get Ash's attention. Ash turned his head and finally saw his friend and gave a friendly smile and wave. "What's up Hugh?" He asked.

Hugh gave an embarrassed smile and said, "Well, I might have forgotten how to get to our meetup spot." Ash looked at him, baffled. "This is the most important day in our lives Hugh! How could you forget?"

Hugh's sister giggled, "He does that a lot. Not the brightest, is he now?" Hugh nearly collapsed as Ash burst into a fit of giggles. "Get up idiot! We got some Pokémon to get!" Ash broke into a sprint as Hugh clumsily stumbled after him.

Their meetup spot was at the highest point in Aspertia. There was a long flight of stairs up to it which Ash foolishly tried to sprint up. He got tired in less than ten seconds and slugged up the steps. Once he got up, he saw Rosa and Alder waiting there for him.

"What took you so long?" Rosa asked him while running up to him, supporting him so that he doesn't fall from exhaustion. "Stairs" Ash answered.

A loud groan was heard from behind Ash, and Hugh walked up. Like Ash, he looked like he was about to die. Rosa gasped and ran over to him as well, letting Ash fend for himself. "Are you done yet" Alder questioned. Ash and Hugh immediately stood up straight and started to walk towards him.

"This is going to be one of the most important days of your lives. Today, you get your starter Pokémon. I assume you all know which ones you want?" Ash, Rosa, and Hugh all looked at each other and nodded. Alder laughed, "Good, good! Here, I'll release them so that you get to see what they will be like.

Alder released Tepig, and it puffed smoke from its snout. Hugh's eyes lit up and saw the potential in it, and he immediately knew he wanted it. Next, he released Snivy, who smiled and waved a vine at everyone looking at her. This time, Rosa's eyes lit up, as she had always wanted Snivy, and it looked perfect.

Then Alder released Oshawott.

* * *

"Osha." Oshawott walked around, greeting the other Pokémon in its group, When Oshawott was born, it was born a leader. It had a fighter's instincts and strength to back it up. He got respect from all of the other Oshawott under Alder's care and made himself the leader of them.

It had been in this position for a month now, no longer a newbie in the position. He took his role with pride, and he thought nothing could take him down.

Alder walked out, carrying a Pokeball with him. The Oshawott knew what time it was, as it was an occurrence most of them had seen before.

It mainly was with people who were too far away to get a Pokémon from Professor Juniper, but some wanted to get a Pokémon elsewhere. That's where Alder came in. As the former champion, he was trusted to give out starter Pokémon as a secondary source. It didn't happen often, but sometimes an Oshawott would be taken and given to a trainer, never to be seen by the pack again.

Oshawott honestly couldn't sleep last night, dreading who would be taken next. Would it be the jumpy one that was scared of nearly anything? Would it be the cocky one who tries to tell everyone he had never lost? He truly treasures all of them and didn't want them to go. He fell asleep with daydreams of who could be taken from his grasp next, a troubling thought to fall asleep to.

Alder looked around for a suitable Oshawott for his students and locked eyes with one. It had a lot of confidence easily visible in its eyes and he knew right then that he wanted Oshawott. He threw the Pokeball with perfect accuracy at the Oshawott, and, in its surprise, was caught with little to no resistance. "Nice" Alder said to himself and he went back into his house, leaving the pack confused.

* * *

Oshawott looked at Ash with curious eyes. 'So these are the humans that could be my trainer' He thought to himself. Ash looked back with eyes just as curious. Oshawott looked powerful, more so than the normal Oshawott that were given out. He looked at Rosa and Hugh to see if they were eyeing it too, but they were fixated on Snivy and Tepig.

Alder noticed this and said, "Well it looks like you all have already picked out you Pokémon!" They all nodded and made eye contact with the Pokémon of their choice. "Ladies first, come on up Rosa." Rosa jumped at her name in excitement and walked up to Snivy.

"Hey Snivy, I'm Rosa. It's great to meet you! Do you want to come with me on my journey?" Snivy perked up at the thought of traveling outside of the forest behind Alder's house and nodded, letting out a slight chirp. Rosa got Snivy's Pokeball and returned it to her, excited to finally have the first member of her team.

Ash looked at Hugh, "Go ahead Hugh, I see you looking at that Tepig." Hugh gave Ash a big smile in thanks and went up to Tepig. He snorted out more smoke at the sight of Hugh, not seeing too much special. Rather than being offended, Hugh took it as a challenge and went up to Tepig.

"You look strong, but not strong enough." Tepig gave an indignant look at his comment, "But, that can change if you come with me. I'll make you into a great Emboar that take down anything and everything." Tepig looked up to Hugh and saw him give a confident look. Tepig knew that this was the trainer it had been waiting for and accepted Hugh as it's trainer.

Alder looked and Ash and beckoned him forward. Ash walked towards Oshawott and saw something in his eyes. He wasn't sure what it was, but he was sure he made the right choice in picking Oshawott as his starter.

Oshawott looked up at Ash too, thinking that this boy wasn't gonna do much for him, and he would much rather be with his pack. "Hey Oshawott, I'm Ash!" Oshawott gave him a look that said he didn't want to be with him.

Ash looked at Oshawott for another solid ten seconds, evaluating it before speaking again. "You look confident, like a leader. Am I right?" Oshawott looked up at him, surprised that he could tell that much just from a few looks. Ash laughed, "Surprised?"

"We're gonna make our own pack, Oshawott, and you can lead it. We're gonna be so strong together that nobody will be able to take us down, I promise you that." Ash poured such emotion into his words that Oshawott honestly believed him. He could settle for a new pack, the old one was getting pretty boring anyway. He looked up to Ash and nodded his head.

A grin on his face, Ash recalled Oshawott, thanked Alder, and bid him goodbye as he ran full speed back to his mother's house to show her his new Pokémon. He made it through the door and was face to face with Mimey, his mother's Mr. Mime from Kanto.

"Mimey! You wouldn't believe it, but I have a Pokémon now!" Mimey looked at him and smiled before going back to sweeping the floor. Ignoring that, he ran to his mom's room. She looked surprised when he swung open the door and bent over, out of breath.

Delia looked concerned, "What happened Ash?"

"I got a Pokémon is what happened!" Ash was nearly bouncing off the walls in excitement, as he had waited for this moment for over a year. "Oh great! Can I see it?" His mom asked, and he pulled out Oshawott's Pokeball from his belt. He hit the white button in the middle and Oshawott materialized.

Oshawott looked up at Ash, confused who this human that is looking at it is. "That's my mom, say hello." As Oshawott understood she was the leader of this pack and waved with it's scalchop. "It's so cute!" Dela cooed, disheartening Oshawott. Ash patted him on the back, "Don't worry buddy, you're not cute, you're strong!" Oshawott perked up, back in its spirit.

Ash walked out of his house, saying goodbye to his mother again, and found Alder running towards him. "Ash!" Alder looked ragged, and he was holding something in his hand. 'Is that… it couldn't be… A Pokedex!?' Ash thought to himself as Alder composed himself.

"You ran off without taking these things! I think you know what a Pokedex is, don't you?" Of course, Ash knew what a Pokedex was, it was the gadget given out to either the most promising trainers or the ones with the most money. It was used to get professors the research that they couldn't gather with their duties and all. Getting one when you were only ten years old was unheard of unless you were some childhood prodigy.

"You got me a Pokedex?" Ash asked incredulously with wide eyes that conveyed his shock. Alder laughed and explained himself, "Of course I did! I'm Alder, I can do what I want, and I think you are fit to have one, Ash."

He was honored to be able to even hold such a coveted device, let alone own one. He counted his blessings and thanked Alder before he noticed Alder had some other things on him, a backpack to be exact. "This will have all of the things you need to start your journey. Pokeballs, a bit of money to start with, essentials, and some other stuff you'll find eventually." Ash looked in the pack Alder had just handed him and saw that all of the things he had said about what would be in there held, seeing multiple pokeballs and a wad of cash.

Ash smiled up at Alder, "Thanks! This will really help on the road!" Alder smiled, "Remember, restock at Pokémon centers and give your mother and I a call or two while you're on the road." With that last piece of advice, Ash walked off towards the entrance to the start of his journey, Route 19.

The route was easily the safest of all of the routes in Unova from what he had heard. Mainly weak Pokémon that people of Aspertia or Floccesy took as pets, some even going all the way there to catch some of the Pokémon there. On Route 19, you could mainly find Pokémon such as Patrat or Purrloin, possibly a Lillipup or Poliwag too if you were lucky enough. Though there were few, you could find gangs of Watchdog or Liepard if you were in the forest, but it was extremely uncommon and if you stayed on the main path, you were fine.

Walking up to the gate that would jumpstart his journey, he saw Hugh and Rosa waiting, Tepig and Snivy out of their pokeballs. Snivy was on Rosa's shoulder while Tepig looked at her with a fire in his eyes from the feet of his trainer. Just by the looks of Tepig and Oshawott, he knew that he and Hugh would have a rivalry going early on.

Ash remembered that he also had Oshawott and released him. Oshawott cried being released and looked around at his environment. He saw that cursed Tepig that he noticed earlier and the Snivy that he thought was okay for a grass type. He walked ahead of Ash, poking Tepig with his scalchop and aggravating him. Tepig tried to tackle him, but from his experience Oshawott was able to dodge, drifting to the side as Tepig nearly hit him.

"Calm down you two!" Hearing Ash and Hugh's words in sync made them look down in guilt, but they still looked back up into each other's eyes, the fire there still burning brighter than ever.

The three friends greeted each other before talking about how they were going to manage the first route. "I say we just stick to the main path, no need to get into trouble" Rosa suggested. Hugh looked like he wanted just the opposite, and Ash didn't care as long as he made it through the route he has seen so many times.

They decided to split off and do whatever they wanted to, but to meet up by 10:00 at the Pokémon Center the next day. They started through the gate and Hugh ran ahead of everyone, eager to see what he had already seen countless times.

They saw the familiar sight of Route 18, a grassy plain with mountains surrounding it, keeping it from the river. If you took the main road through it only took around six hours to trek with a few stops for water where there were chances to get it. If you went off the main path, it was very easy to get lost. It's why at most parts there are steep cliffs, encouraging people to steer clear of it.

Hugh set off, running down the main path until he found something of interest. Whether it was a Pidove or a Purrloin, it didn't matter to him, as long as it was a good looking Pokémon for his team. Rosa walked down the main path at a leisurely pace, not too worried about going into the woods while she still had not trained Snivy at all.

Ash checked through his bag one more time before leaving Aspertia behind. The main path went over hills in a mainly straight line, which was fine for Ash. He didn't see much for a few minutes before a Patrat passed him and saw him. Oshawott hopped out from behind Ash, ready to fight the wild Patrat.

Ash had scanned Oshawott with his Pokedex earlier, seeing he had the moves Tackle, Tail Whip, Water Gun and Water Sport. To his surprise and delight, he saw it didn't have the ability Torrent as most did, but the ability Shell Armor. It's growing armor grew at a fast rate, making his usual weak points much more sturdy. It could help him out a lot in some fights, removing the fear of getting hurt from a Pokémon hitting a weak spot.

"Water gun!" Ash shouted with excitement, having his first real battle at this point. The Patrat tried to use tackle, but it proved to be weak from most likely battling at least a few foes today and was blown back immediately from Oshawott's precise water gun. He scurried off, but Ash wasn't too worried about it, he would run into many more Patrat later in the day.

About thirty more minutes went by with nothing too special happening, just a few wild Pokémon Oshawott easily fended off. He ran into his first trainer, a young boy by the name of Jimmy. He used a Patrat that he was pretty sure was caught just the day before.

It was able to withstand a water gun but just stood there afterward. "Tackle." The battle was over just like that, and Ash asked Jimmy why he didn't try to move Patrat or use tackle on him at least. "We were using Bide, a move where you store the power used against you and release it on opponents after they attacked you a few times." 'Oh. That isn't very smart, is it?' Ash thought to himself as he thanked Jimmy and walked on.

Ash and Oshawott moved on from there, and a few minutes later Ash struck up a conversation with him. "So, you were the leader of the Oshawotts back at Alder's?" Oshawott smiled at that, reminiscing about the good times. "Osha." Ash couldn't understand him, but he assumed that he was saying he was correct.

"I wasn't the leader of my group back at my old home, but I did have a group." Oshawott looked confused. Old home? Wasn't he from around here? Would he have to leave Unova entirely? "Osha?"

Ash laughed, "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I'm from Kanto." Oh, nice. That's where those annoying Poliwags back in Alder's fields said they came from, but hopefully, everyone from there wasn't like them.

"Me and my friends Gary, Leaf and some other kids would always play with the wild Pidgey and Ratata, and there was this huge Arcanine that Professor Oak had, and-" Ash started to ramble, so Oshawott tuned him out. He looked around at his surroundings, like the mountains in the background, the long path in front of him, the Poliwag staring at him. Wait, the Poliwag staring at him. This black-eyed fool was staring at him like he was a mere insect. He wouldn't stand for this. Never mind his trainer, his pride was at stake here.

"Hey, Oshawott? Is that a Poliwag?" Poliwag was somewhat a rare find around these parts. They lived at the mouth of the river down in the forest, so finding one so close to the main road was uncommon, to say the least. Why not catch it? It evolves into a fighting type, he could use one of those. "You wanna fight it?"

Oshawott didn't need to be told twice, immediately shooting a water gun at it. The Poliwag had a gleam in its eyes as it took the attack to the chest. Oshawott looked proud as it looked to see what damage he had done, only to find the Poliwag sitting there, healthier than ever.

Ash used his Pokedex while the Poliwag was sitting still. "Poliwag, the tadpole Pokémon. Its skin is so thin, its internal organs are visible. It has trouble walking on its newly grown feet. Its ability is Water Absorb." Ah. So that was it. Pokémon with Water Absorb used water to heal themselves, thus, Oshawott's water attacks were useless.

Poliwag shot a Water Gun at Oshawott, who was hit in the face. Poliwag then ran up and used Double Slap, hitting Oshawott three times before he could come to his senses and use a powerful Tackle to get it off. Poliwag's lack of defense made it fly backward and it ran back into the forest. Oshawott, not taking a win like that, ran after it. Not about to leave his Pokémon behind, Ash started to sprint after the two.

Poliwag was much faster than Oshawott and left it in the dust. Oshawott looked around for where his trainer was. Ash came running up to Oshawott and bopped him on the head. "Don't run off, we don't know what could be in these woods." Looking around, Oshawott understood what he meant. Dark leaves were everywhere, capable of concealing everything around them. The feeling of eyes always watching their back as they wandered around didn't make anything better.

After ten minutes of wandering, they decided to take a rest. Ash got out his water and gave Oshawott Pokémon food. Oshawott had been used to this and thought it tasted pretty good, so he downed his meal. Ash did the same, having a sandwich that his mother had given him earlier that day.

They set off again as things got darker around them, making the forest a lot easier to get lost in. Now the eyes they felt multiplied by the minute and they got a foreboding feeling. Everything came to a high when he saw four Liepard ahead of him.

In homes, Liepard were just big, mischievous cats, but in the wild, they were ruthless killers. A good amount of the people who died to wild Pokémon died to Liepard. They hunted in packs, taking everything from Basculin to Patrat. They were also primarily carnivores, which didn't help things out at all.

They locked eyes with the Liepard and the four demon cats made a loud signal. Ash And Oshawott got the feeling they should run, so they tried to but were met with more Liepard. Ash looked back and found they were surrounded. "Oshawott, use water gun on the one in front of us!" Oshawott, being the loyal Pokémon it was, did what Ash asked. It only made the Liepard lose her footing, but that was all that Ash needed to escape. He ran through the vines and stubs that surrounded him.

The Liepard were hot on his tail, as extremely fast as it was. They were catching up fast, and they had no clue how to get back to the main path. Knowing what was inevitable, Ash returned Oshawott. Ash turned around, ready to try and take down whatever came at him when he was confused by the sounds of scuffling.

He crept forward with curious eyes and saw a Watchdog taking out one of the Liepard, with many more on the way. Ash released Oshawott, ignoring its angry muttering, and knew they had to run. They were in more danger than they had been in previously.

Watchdog was very territorial Pokémon, sticking to one area and protecting it usually. It's why they made as good guard Pokémon. They had great eyes that could see for long distances. The reason it was bad was because, even if only one saw him, he would never be out of their sight and would have to run away for miles to have a chance of losing them.

Oshawott saw Ash slowly creep away, and followed suit, knowing something was up. They eventually found that they were near the path, and could see it over a waterfall they were on top of. As they were on top of it, Ash swore he could see the outline of a Pokémon floating around them, little red sparkles following it. He heard a giggle and then the presence left. It sounded odd, but he felt much more invigorated at the sight of it, and he looked down at Oshawott. Oshawott was looking up at him with awe-filled eyes, as Pokémon could feel the presence of a Legendary Pokémon.

They got back down to the main path and found themselves only around a mile away from Floccesy, where Alder lived. It was a quiet place with a giant clock tower in the middle of it. It is said that it only rings when the fabled legendary sword trio of Unova return and the locals await that day patiently.

Ash took a moment to look back on his day. He got Oshawott, he got a Pokedex, he almost caught a Poliwag, he nearly got killed by a gang of Liepard but was saved by another gang of Watchdog. 'What a weird day.' Ash thought to himself. Oshawott was thinking about the same thing. The craziest part about it to him was how he was already enjoying it much more than leading the pack of Oshawott. Maybe this journey would be pretty fun after all.

They walked down the road to Floccesy Town which was visible in the distance, and they looked at one another. There was the same fire in each of their eyes from before, but this time, it was controlled, not erratic and wild. They both grinned and sprinted to the Pokémon Center, which they entered and marveled at the modern look of it.

Oshawatt especially did. He had never seen anything like it. There were so many lights, it looked like Suicune herself was in the building, creating the Northern Lights for all to see. The people around him looked at his ragged clothing and then went back to what they were doing, not surprised to see another Route 18 trainer.

"Could you heal my Oshawott please?" Nurse Joy nodded before taking Ash's Pokeball out of his hands. Ash wondered if Hugh or Rosa were already here. Well, scratch that, Rosa was probably here and asleep. Hugh might still be out battling Pokémon, but he doubted even he wanted to be out in the forest past dark.

Ash waited another ten minutes before he remembered what Alder had said about calling his mom. He went to the tablet to the left of the desk and called his mother. She answered, glad he was alive and was doing pretty good.

"Ashy! I'm so glad you made it to Floccesy! How was your first day?" Ash grinned, "It was great, we battled a few people and breezed through Route 19 without a problem." Well, that was a lie, but she didn't need to know that. What mother would want to know their child was nearly mauled on the first day of their journey?

"Ash Ketchum, your Oshawott is ready to be picked up."

Ash bid his mother goodbye and went up to get Oshawott. He went to his room that he had rented and saw the look of it. It looked like a regular one-person hotel room. One bed, a desk, and a mini-fridge were in there. He set his backpack down and released Oshawott. "Osha!" Oshawott looked around at the room he assumed they were staying.

"That was a pretty fun night, wasn't it Oshawott." Oshawott nodded. He had a lot of fun, other than the stupid tadpole getting away from him.

Ash suddenly sat up in bed, "Oh yeah! I was gonna ask you if you want a nickname! Do you want one?" Oshawott took a moment to think before shaking his head side to side. He wanted to be known as the best Samurott, not by a dumb nickname. "Okay, fair enough." Ash laughs as he laid down in the bed with Oshawott.

Unlike last night, they both fell asleep peacefully.

Ash and Oshawott woke to a bright light coming from their blindless window. Ash shielded his eyes with his hands and Oshawott slowly rose up from his position in the bed. After a few minutes of getting up and then laying down again in defeat, Oshawott decided to use Water Gun on Ash to wake him up. A mistake to say the least.

"Oshawott!" Oshawott ran out of the room, giggling like a child while Ash chased him, soaking wet from a "misaimed" Water Gun. Ash grumbled to himself as he walked back into his room, deciding to find Oshawott later and take a shower to wake up.

After about five minutes of showering, Ash walked out to see Oshawott on the bed, a smug look on his face. Ash gritted his teeth and tried returning Oshawott, who dodges to the side and shook his head. "You want to stay out?" Oshawott nodded. Ash sighed, knowing only bad things could come from this.

They walked out into the lobby at around 10:00 and saw Rosa and Hugh talking with Tepig looking at Snivy angrily. "I'm honestly not sure how, but Snivy beat Tepig. We're gonna have to work on his speed." Hugh grumbled, Tepig having the same emotions on his face. Ash smiled, knowing they were perfect for each other. He frowned, looking down at Snivy who walked up to Oshawott friendly. If she could beat a Tepig, there's no way it couldn't beat an Oshawott.

"Let's battle Ash!" Ash blinked, as did Oshawott. Hugh already lost to Rosa and he had a type advantage over her. "I'll use my own water Pokemon" Ash and Rosa looked to Hugh in amazement at his statement. He had a water Pokemon? That meant it had to either be a Basculin or a-

"Poli!"

'Is that the Poliwag from yesterday?' Oshawott thought to himself while glaring at the smug Poliwag. "It ran up to me out of nowhere and it was really weak when I found it." So Oshawott did more damage then they had originally thought, Ash deduced. He seethed at the thought that he could have had that rare Poliwag but was just a bit too slow. Oshawott just glared at the Poliwag in resentment.

Hugh grinned, "Well Ash? Wanna have a battle?" Ash nodded his head and returned Oshawott for the time being. He would be released again come the battle. The two walked out to the battlefield while Rosa, Snivy and Tepig watched from the stands.

"Go Poliwag!" "Get em Oshawott!" As if this were a Mexican Standoff, the two glared at each other without making a move. "Water Gun!" With Hugh's command, the battle started. Poliwag's water gun flew left of Oshawott as he dodged. "Tackle!" Ash's voice sent Oshawott barreling after Poliwag as it used it's immense speed to try and dodge.

The tackle barely went left and Poliwag hit Oshawott with a precise water gun. It blasted Oshawott a few feet back, but he got back up, barely fazed b the water he had grown up with. "Tackle again!" This time, Oshawott nailed Poliwag in the middle of his spiraled chest, sending him flying backward.

Poliwag got up, but it was easy to see it most likely wouldn't be able to take another. Poliwag, hearing Hugh's command, moved close to Oshawott to use a devastating move, Hypnosis. The move put foes to sleep but was fairly easy to miss because opponents had to look into the Hypnosis for it to work. If they even just closed their eyes they could withstand it.

Hugh knew it was a cheap tactic, but he needed to take what he could at this point. Poliwag had bad defenses and was nearly taken out by a single Tackle from the experienced Oshawott. Having spent numerous hours dealing with many Poliwag's antics back at Alder's, Oshawott knew what was coming. "Get out of there Oshawott!" You didn't need to tell him twice. He leaped left just as Poliwag sped to him and tackled him right as he passed him.

"Good job Oshawott!" Feeling things were now safe, Oshawott turned around to see spirals in Poliwag's eyes. Oshawott sighed in relief. He was proven to be more powerful than that cursed Poliwag. Well, not necessarily but it was good enough for now.

Ash returned Oshawott, who was pretty tired and would be healed up. He picked up his head and saw Hugh grinning at him. "Great battle man!" Hugh held out his hand and Ash immediately took it and shook it. "You too."

Hugh left with Tepig, who was furious he didn't get to battle, to go heal up Poliwag. Ash watching the doors closing behind him and saw Rosa walk up to him. "Great battle, as always Ash." She commented, Snivy looking impressed.

The truth was that Ash had battled before getting his starter. He knew that is technically was illegal in Kanto, but it wasn't in Unova. You could battle as soon as you were given the green light from any higher up in the league, something Alder was. Gary would be fuming at all of the fun he and the others had.

Ash smiled, "Truth is, we saw that Poliwag yesterday and battled it. We found out it had water absorb back then and that's the main reason we won." Rosa shook her head and also smiled, "You don't have to be so humble Ash! You beat Hugh, be proud!"

Ash shook his head in amusement and remembered he still had to heal Oshawott up while he had the chance. He bid Rosa goodbye for now and entered the Pokemon Center, where he found Alder and Hugh talking.

"So you have a Poliwag now? Good find, Hugh my boy!" Alder laughed boisterously as Ash walked up to him. "How are you doing Alder?" Ash asked the fire-haired man. Alder laughed and said, "Fine Ash? Have you caught any Pokemon?"

Ash laughed sheepishly and muttered, "Not yet." Hugh grinned at that, taking it as a win in his book. Alder laughed it off and moved back to talking to Hugh about Poliwag. Hugh wasn't really sure how to take care of it. From training to Pokemon food, he didn't know what to do with the Poliwag, so he went to Alder for help. Of course, Alder was more than willing to help Hugh with his minor problems.

Taking this as a chance to set off again, Oshawott was returned to him from Nurse Joy and, after thanking Nurse Joy and saying bye to Alder and Hugh for the day, he left. He walked off and saw Rosa and Snivy talking. Rosa smiled at him and Snivy waved one of her vines to say goodbye.

Route Twenty was a lot different from this one. At surface level, it seemed a lot better. There were new pokemon to be seen, mainly grass types such as Sewaddle and Sunkern. The upper part of it had a river flowing through it that let all of the Pokemon up there thrive and to have to fight. Of course, there would always be the aggressive Liepard or Watchdog, but that was to be expected and you could just stick to the main path.

The southern part was another story altogether. Just to keep new trainers from hurting themselves, a hiker was always deployed at the entrance. That hiker also was tasked with taking out any other Pokemon that tried to come up, in fear it could disrupt the peaceful ecosystem. You were only allowed to pass once you either had the old Time Badge from Benga, Alder's son who moved to the Black City and White Forest area or the new Basic Badge from Cheren in Aspertia.

The river down there only flowed through a few spots, and many pokemon couldn't swim to get to those spots, so it was an all-out brawl to get territory by the water. Venipede also made a home there, and Scolipede was known to be one of the, if not the most aggressive bug type in the known world.

Liepard and Watchdog gangs were numerous, and something travelers watched out for. If you got out of the dark forests though, you could find some peaceful areas with Sunkern or Sewaddle clans.

At the end, there was a large mountain trainers had to scale to get to Virbank. It was a treacherous climb that many trainers used to try and earn money by battling tired trainers and making them pay for shelter the following night if they didn't have any, which most unprepared trainers didn't. If you got to the top, it's a peaceful road with few trainers to Virbank City.

Ash wasn't thinking about that when he left. He thought about all of the great new Pokemon he could capture on the route. A Leavanny would be a great addition to his team, and a Sunflora would be solid. Maybe he could catch a Pidove, which would be great coverage to his grass weakness that he had for the time being.

He walked into the wonderful look of Route 20, almost tripping over a small puddle on the ground. He saw a flock of Pidove flying through the skies and wanted to catch one, but he knew Oshawott's water gun couldn't reach, so he didn't bother.

Speaking of that, Oshawott needed a new water type move other than that. Water Pulse was a good idea because it had the chance to confuse opponents, but he wanted a physical move.

Before then though, he wanted Oshawott to learn Focus Energy. It was a move that was simple to learn but very effective when used properly. It's a move that, for a short time, gives a Pokemon the instincts of a born killer and knowledge of critical points to strike. It would be useful in times he had a type disadvantage, like with Rosa's Snivy or Hugh's water absorb Poliwag.

"Osha" Oshawott gave its signature cry upon being released. It looked back at Ash in confusion, not seeing any opponent in front of him. "Hey Oshawott, today we're gonna learn a new move." Oshawott looked up at Ash in shock. It had been at least a month since he had taught himself Water Sport, and now Ash just wanted him to learn a new one magically?

"Don't worry Oshawott, this is a simple one. It's called Focus Energy, and to learn it, you just have to let your instincts fully take over." Ash looked at Oshawott and smiled. He knew Oshawott would be able to learn it in no time.

An hour later, Oshawott and Ash were still sitting in the same spot, meditating and trying to hone their "Inner Strength" as Ash had put it. Oshawott was beginning to get angry at Ash. The kid acted like it was easy to learn any new move just like that.

Oshawott realized that thinking like that was the antithesis of what Ash was saying to do, and he calmed himself down. Deep breathing. In. And out. In. And-

Suddenly, Oshawott's eyes opened and glowed bright yellow for a moment, catching Ash's eye. Oshawott looked around, suddenly understanding how to do the most damage possible. He also knew that he somehow had the skill to do it consistently, for now, something he never did.

"Did it work?" Ash asked. Oshawott nodded in answer and saw a Watchdog cross in front of them. He guessed it had lost its pack because it was looking at them angrily, something normal Watchdog didn't do unless in a group.

Oshawott loaded water into his mouth and shot it out, nailing Watchdog in its throat and sending it scrambling to get back onto its feet. It ran away, apparently looking for its pack now that Oshawott had proven to be a bit stronger than it.

Oshawott saw his eyes gleam again, and the knowledge and precision left his brain, leaving him wondering how that move was possible.

"Nice job Oshawott!" Ash congratulated Oshawott on the upset. It wasn't every day you saw a stage one Pokemon take out a fully evolved one. They left their spot again, setting off on a trek to find new Pokemon for their team.

It seemed that the Sewaddle that he wanted were being shy today and he hadn't seen any the whole time he was on Route 20. He sighed and kept walking until he ran into a trainer. The trainer seemed pretty weak and sent out a Patrat that he easily defeated.

His information was what piqued his interest. "There's a ranch down that way that has more pokemon then Route 20 has. Rumor is that they have Riolu somewhere in their land." That was big. He hadn't heard of this ranch, but the fact that they were licensed to even have Riolu on their property was amazing, let alone have a population of them.

Lucario was a Pokemon that Ash wanted on his original team a year ago. He had seen the new Sinnoh Champion using one and was amazed at its technique and versatility, having moves like Dragon Pulse and Bone Rush. It was very powerful and it is said that back in the days of war between regions, it could take down Tyranitar and sometimes even Pokemon like Metagross and Hydreigon, A Unova dragon.

He thought that dream had gone to dust when he moved to Unova, but here he was, getting another chance at having a Lucario. He thanked the trainer without even asking for his name and ran down the route, Oshawott trudging behind him, confused.

After only thirty minutes of searching, he found what he was looking for. Off of Route 20 was a place called Flocessy Ranch. How could he forget? Alder took him here when he first arrived in Unova and showed him all of the Pokemon there could be. He remembered the Psyduck and Azurill that he saw which reminded him of home. He remembered the abundant Mareep that were kept and available for capture by the ranch owners.

He entered the ranch and saw the owners waving, thinking just another trainer was coming through to get a Mareep or something else that they had. They noticed Ash when he came closer and greeted him after not seeing him for a year.

"Hey, Ash! I haven't seen you in a while!" Ash smiled, glad that he saw them too. They talked for a moment before Ash noticed a problem he had. It was already 7:30 at night, and the sun would be setting very soon. Ash asked them if he could stay with them for a night, and they said yes. There was something he needed to do for them though.

"One of our beloved Herdier got lost! Could you please look for her tomorrow?" It would be a bit of a divergence from his travels, but he didn't mind. It gave him a chance to look for a Riolu. He really needed to do that, and it would be pretty awkward asking the owners if he could look for a Pokemon they most likely didn't want to be taken from them. "Sure."

Just like that, he had a bed to sleep in for the night. "We're lucky" Ash whispered to Oshawott, getting settled in the bed. Every night so far they had found a place to sleep and hadn't had to camp out anywhere.

Just like the previous night, they fell asleep peacefully.

The next morning, Ash set out with Oshawott into the lands that the Flocessy Ranch owners owned. Truth be told, there was a lot of land to search.

The first chunk of land was managed directly by the owners. The Pokemon here were mainly captured and tamed except for a few. If you wanted to catch a Pokemon, you shouldn't go here, but if you needed to train, it was a pretty good spot.

The second was where many trainers went out to. The forests of the ranch were home to the wild Pokemon of the ranch. A few Mareep, Psyduck, lots of Lillipup and, if you were really lucky, you could find a Riolu. Finding a Riolu was the main focus behind finding Herdier

Speaking of Herdier, Ash had no clue where to look to find it. The woods were vast, and it could be anywhere. He hoped that it responded to his calls and he would be able to look for a Riolu quickly.

Ash passed the friendly Mareep who gave him a static-like cry. Ash liked the Mareep and thought about what it would be like to have one on his team. It could cover a lot of bases and would be a very solid member. He still wanted a Riolu, but a Mareep was a close second.

The entrance to the forest reminded Ash of the forests in Route 19. Dangerous, creepy and nervewracking were words Ash used to describe the forest. Ash shuddered and removed those thoughts from his mind, woking up the courage to take his first few steps in.

"It's a paradise" Ash released Oshawott so he could lay his eyes on what was happening in front of him. A Psyduck was playing with the Pidove with no sense of danger. The rare Dunsparce was freely playing with what looked to be a young Watchdog, not worrying about their territorial nature.

Judging by the entrance, it looked like this would be a lot less scary than he once imagined it could be. He walked past the wild Pokemon, smiling at them. Most of them gave him one back. Ash frowned, not seeing either a Herdier or a Riolu in the group. Looks like this might be a bit of a challenge.

Ash and Oshawott trudged through the damp forest. They had seen a multitude of wild Pokemon since they had set off, including a very rare Audino, used in Pokemon Centers all around the Unova region. Still, no sign of Herdier or any Riolu.

Ash found a trainer back in those parts who was looking for a Riolu as well. His name was Cameron, and he seemed to be a lot like Hugh. Really competitive, not the best at decision making and loved Pokemon to death. He said that he grew up with his aunt and uncle who were the owners of the ranch and that all of the wild Pokemon knew him. He wanted to get a starter Pokemon here, so the owners gave him a day to find any Pokemon he wanted and capture it.

"I still haven't found one after three hours of searching! I'm starting to give up!" Just as Cameron said that a Riolu wandered to their temporary site from the bushes. Cameron made eye contact with him, baffled he had found one. The Riolu looked at Cameron with the same look. This was his favorite place to hang out, and some humans had found it.

"You're mine Riolu!" Riolu yelped and lept backward, sprinting away as Cameron chased it to who knows where. Ash looked down at Oshawott, who looked back up at him. "Well, there goes that."

Even though he lost the Riolu, he was glad someone like Cameron got one, not some jerk. He smiled reminiscently and walked on, shouting Herdier's name every now and then. He eventually came across something strange. Two trainers, this far out in the forest. They both had on a really strange uniform that he swore he had seen somewhere before.

"Where did that Mareep go?" "The bitch couldn't have gotten that far!" It hit him who they were and he ducked down behind a bush. Team Plasma, the team that had almost conquered an entire region without directly hurting people, was right in front of him.

'Hilbert took them out years ago!' Ash thought to himself silently. Oshawott wasn't sure what was going on, but he understood they were dangerous if Ash was hiding and went into the bush with him.

"Whatever, it's one Mareep. Not a big deal." The grunts walked off and Ash was about to follow before he saw a heavily damaged Mareep come out of the bush next to him.

* * *

It was a good day on the Flocessy Ranch. Mareep had been having a great day so far and decided to go on a walk through the forest. The forest wasn't such a dangerous place. The ranch didn't tolerate gangs and violence, so it became a peaceful haven for weaker pokemon to grow.

The forest was nice looking. It wasn't dark, mainly a luscious green that illuminated everything in the area. Even around nighttime like it was now, there was nearly no danger in going into the forest.

Mareep said hello to the Psyduck that passed her. She quite liked the Psyduck, with their stupid expressions and great sense of humor. She passed the Patrat and didn't say hello. The Patrat were as annoying as it could get with wild Pokemon. She passed the Riolu Clan, bowing her head to the elder Lucario. Very few knew of their location, and she was honored to be one of them after she met two twin Riolu that took a liking to her.

She went up to two trainers that she saw. They were in some weird uniform that she hadn't seen in her time spent here, but she didn't fret. She fretted when the people grinned at her with obvious malicious intent. She tried to run, but their skilled Liepard and Purrloin beat her out. Mareep wasn't known for having great speed, and she wasn't an exception.

She woke up what felt like a day later, beaten and still tired. She looked around and saw many species of Pokemon found in Flocessy Ranch. Psyduck that had gone missing weeks earlier, Pidove that had been oddly missing on their morning flights and piles on piles of Mareep.

She hadn't noticed that many Pokemon gone from the farm. It was surprising that they had so many Pokemon there. She looked around and didn't see any Riolu, which was what those bad men were probably there for. Riolu, from what she had heard, were very rare in Unova, and this was the only reliable legal way to capture one.

"Alright you creatures, get your food." A man opened the hatch on top and dropped some food down. The Pokemon flooded the room to get some because, from what she heard, they hadn't eaten for days. The hatch gave Mareep a plan, and she told the other Mareep about it. Most thought it was foolish and overly optimistic, but some were willing to support her.

The Mareep knew when the food would be coming at this point. The Mareep made a pile by the hatch in an attempt to get out. Mareep had this plan for multiple reasons. One was that the latch opened towards the humans, not away from them. Another was that she suspected the humans weren't as smart as most and wouldn't close the hatch right away. She was banking on that, and she hoped she was right.

The hatch opened, and the man wasn't able to scream before the Mareep took him out. The hatch fell open, and a few Mareep got out before others came to check what was up.

The humans unleashed their Pokemon on us, some being Lillipup and Mareep they had undoubtedly drugged and others being Liepard and Watchdog, naturally violent Pokemon that would probably go along with whatever the men said.

She used Thunder Wave to paralyze the Liepard coming after her. She stopped in her tracks, giving Mareep a chance to run for the exit to the outside world that she had seen. As she was climbing the steps up to the top, she turned around to see the Mareep fighting a losing battle. She muttered a prayer to Arceus and exited.

* * *

Mareep looked up at Ash with curiosity. The boy hid in the bushes as she had upon seeing the bad men. Was he good? She didn't know. What she did know was that she needed someone to help her fellow Pokemon out of captivity.

"Reep!" Ash looked at the Mareep weakly headbutt him in the knee, bringing him back to reality. He dropped down and got out a potion he had in his backpack. "Do you wind if I help you? It will sting a little." Mareep didn't see why not, and let him. She winced at the pain that came from the potion but soon started to feel the pain being soothed.

"Mareep, this is my friend and Pokemon, Oshawott." Oshawott was released and saw the Mareep. He had heard Ash talking to the Mareep from his Pokeball and assumed she was on his side. He didn't know who the other side was, but he knew they weren't on his.

"Would you mind if I scanned you with my Pokedex?" Mareep shook her head side to side and Ash brought out his Pokedex and shot the beam at her.

"Mareep, the Wool Pokemon. When cold weather increases static electricity, it's wool doubles in size and the tip of its tail glows slightly. Mareep is female. Mareep has the moves Growl, Tackle, Thunder Wave and Thunder Shock. Mareep has the ability Static."

Ash nodded and spoke to Mareep and Oshawott. "That was Team Plasma, a group that was supposed to be gone since Hilbert defeated them two years ago. It looks like their back, and I have to clue how to get back." Mareep had a good idea of how to return, but she wanted revenge on her attackers, so she kept quiet.

"Could you show me how to get to the base?" Mareep nodded and ran forward. Oshawott stumbled after her, shouting at her in his own language. Ash was about as fast as Mareep, so he could keep up. She stopped around an open field with a rock in the middle.

The field looked safe enough. Mareep suddenly headbutted the rock. Ash and Oshawott looked on, worried for her but gained an understanding look when it clanged. It wasn't the sound that you would expect from a rock. Ash widened his eyes, seeing a camouflaged doorknob on the rock. It was a wonder how nobody had found it when it was right in the middle of a big field the entire time.

He turned the knob and was surprised to see that it opened. It looked like the last person here hadn't locked the door, or someone else was out. That last thought made him shiver, and he walked in, Mareep and Oshawott in tow.

The first room was really big and seemed like a lobby for communications. There was a big TV, and thankfully, nobody watching it. Ash saw three different doors, each with a label. One said Pokemon Storage, the second said Living Quarters and the third said Work. Ash was only interested in the Pokemon Storage room.

He went in and saw two grunts at the top, watching the hatch very closely to prevent another escape. They looked towards him and they locked eyes. No words needing to be said, Oshawott and Mareep jumped in front of Ash as the grunts released a Liepard and Watchdog.

"This is gonna be tough," Ash told Mareep and Oshawott, "But we can make it through." Electricity ran through Mareep's fur in agreement and Oshawott nodded. "Liepard, use fake out!" Ash didn't get a chance to say a word before Liepard ran up to Mareep and scratched her across the face, stunning her. The move was Fake Out, and it always stunned the foe after using it. Liepard felt a jolt of electricity run through her fur, but didn't think much of it and ran back to her side.

"Oshawott Focus Energy! Mareep, cover Oshawott with Thunder Shock" They both did as Ash commanded. Oshawott closed his eyes and channeled his instincts while Mareep let a Thunder Shock loose into Watchdog, who was nearing and preparing a Hypnosis. Oshawott's eyes gleamed and he looked around, instincts taking him over.

Ash saw his eyes and made his move. "Tackle Liepard!" The grunt heard Ash and called a command in response. "Fury swipes!" They both rushed at each other at high speeds. Liepard was faster, but Oshawott's instincts predicted the move, and he jumped above them. He took the chance to tackle Liepard in the back of the head. Liepard was knocked down, looking delirious and most likely concussed.

"Watchdog, bite that Mareep!" Watchdog sprung forward with surprising speed and bit Mareep through her thick wool. The wool helped out with the force, but Watchdog's teeth still pierced her skin. "Thunder wave, then tackle!" Mareep, though wincing in pain, used Thunder Wave and made direct contact with Watchdog. Watchdog froze for a moment, letting Mareep tackle it, sending it backward a fair amount.

Watchdog fell against a metal drawer and fell over from the collision. "Get up Liepard!" Liepard attempted to get up again but was knocked back down by a well-timed Water Gun from Oshawott.

Ash saw this and knew it was time to go on the offensive. He had an idea that just might work and take out a pokemon on its own. "Oshawott, use water gun on Watchdog! Mareep, use thunder wave on the water gun midair!" Mareep and Oshawott looked at Ash in confusion but tried it anyway. Using his newly rediscovered accuracy, Oshawott aimed right for Watchdog's mouth. Mareep nailed the Water Gun right as it went down Watchdog's throat, shocking it from the inside. Watchdog was trying to dodge, but he was paralyzed by Mareep. Watchdog fainted, damaged badly from the move.

One of the grunts returned his Watchdog with a scoff. "We gotta head out. We have what we need from here." The other grunt nodded and waved to Ash. They stepped onto a pad and disappeared before Ash could reach them. "Damnit!" Ash pounded his fist on a nearby desk. He was so close to catching them, but they got away.

Oshawott and Mareep were angry too. They put in all of that work for them to leave in the middle of their battle.

Ash opened the hatch again to see Pokemon everywhere. An unhealthy amount for the room that they were in. There had to be at least 200 Pokemon in there, from Mareep to Azurill. Ash walked down some stepped that he saw and undid a metal hatch. Pokemon piled out of the door and ran up the stairs, eager to return to their home.

Ash walked into the chamber and saw a disc in a case lying on the ground. He picked it up and saw it had "TM32 - Double Team" Scribbled onto it. It looked to be a reusable one too, something the Unova region had just created. Ash grinned and put it into his bag before going back to Mareep.

Mareep smiled at them but felt something different. Something about that battle made her feel much more alive then she had ever felt. She looked up to Ash and saw a happy look on his face at all of the Pokemon being released into the wild again. At that moment, she made her choice on what she would do for the rest of her life.

Pokemon were everywhere in the field they had just an hour ago seen to be empty. It looked like the start of the forest again, and Ash was happy for the Pokemon. He felt a light nudge at his feet and saw Mareep staring up at him with big eyes.

"What do you need Mareep?" Ash laughed goodheartedly. Mareep jumped and tried to headbutt one of his Pokeballs, but missed and release Oshawott. "Osha!" Oshawott looked around for a threat but was confused to see them outside of the base. Assuming that he had forgotten everything that happened and he, along with Mareep, defeated all of Team Plasma, Oshawott congratulated himself on a great job.

"Do you want me to catch you?" Mareep nodded vigorously at that. Ash enlargened one of the Pokeballs on his belt. "You sure? You can't go back from this." Mareep didn't hesitate to nod again. Ash threw the Pokeball and Mareep jumped into it. The Pokeball twitched three times before dinging, signifying that Ash had caught a Pokemon.

The first Pokemon he had caught. Ash looked at the Pokeball in fondness. Ash had really grown to like that Mareep and would have been sad to see her go. He was glad she would be along for the journey, especially with her and Oshawott's killer combo.

Wait. The Herdier. Ash needed to find it. Ash looked around the group of Pokemon and saw a large Herdier with a collar on playing with a few Pidove. "Hey, Herdier! Wanna go back to your owners?" Herdier walked up to him and gave a jolly Woof.

For the next hour, as it got dark, Herdier led him back to the house using his superior sent to guide him. The owners were joyed to see their Herdier alive and happy to see Ash there as well. Ash told them about Team Plasma, and the ranch owners contacted the police in Flocessy Town. The police found a way to get there in less than five minutes while it had taken hours for Ash to get there. They took Ash back to the police station for questioning.

Ash looked out of the window in the back of the police car. He saw Pokemon in the Flocessy Ranch that he was pretty sure he remembered seeing in the Plasma base. To his surprise, he saw a group of Riolu and Lucario dancing around a fire right as they left the area. Surprisingly, he didn't even want to go back for a Riolu. He was perfectly content with having a loyal Mareep instead.

The questioning was easy to Ash. He could answer honestly and get out of there quickly. The questions they asked were really basic, like where the base was and who was in the base. They took his Pokeballs to the Pokemon Center so that when he finished up, they would be healed. He left the police station and saw Alder waiting outside for him.

"What were you thinking Ash? Raiding a Plasma base on your third day as a trainer?" Ash looked down at his shoes. Maybe he wasn't thinking straight, but they were bad, right? He did a good thing by getting rid of them, and he proved he was strong enough to take on fully evolved Pokemon.

After more questioning from Alder, Ash was finally able to go back to the Pokemon Center and get his Pokeballs. "Ash Ketchum?" Ash heard on the intercom as he walked in. "Perfect timing," Ash whispered to himself. He walked up to get his Pokeballs. He got them and decided it was time to turn in for the night.

Ash looked in the lobby and saw Hugh, passed out with his Poliwag and Tepig in his seat. They were asleep too, and it made them look like a big family. Ash smiled, proud of Hugh for making a great team that would rival his own even when he would reach his prime.

Ash remembered something he did with Mareep the first day he had Oshawott and released her. "Reep!" Mareep cried upon getting released. She looked up at Ash with curious eyes, wondering why she was out of her Pokeball.

"I was just wondering if you wanted a nickname?" Mareep thought it over for a few seconds before nodding her head. Ash listed two names before he found one that stuck. "Jolt." Mareep sent shocks through her fur in excitement. She had a new life and a new identity to go with it.

Ash went to sleep happier than he had so far on his journey.


	2. Battles

**I somehow wrote five thousand words today, so you now have this a day before scheduled. This is by far my longest chapter so far, so enjoy.**

* * *

"Reep!" "Osha" Ash released Jolt and Oshawott into the world after he had a great sleep. He dreamt of his journey so far and how far he had come in just a few days. He felt like an entirely new person after the days prior.

He was also thinking about the Plasma base. They had cleared everything out by the time he got there and they were probably about to leave anyway. He gave them all a lot of information but withhold some things. He knew they might not like the fact he had a Mareep that was there with Team Plasma and that he had TM from the base.

Speaking of that TM, he would need to use that for his battle with Cheren. He was new, but he also was a teacher at the Pokemon School. It was a well-respected position and considering he was one of the very few who Hilbert trusted enough to tell his whereabouts, he was well respected. Anyone the hero of Unova liked, the people liked.

They didn't mind the old Flocessy gym leader. He was quite eccentric and decided to go off on his journey to become the best trainer in Unova. He was the son of Alder, so people knew he had a good chance at it.

Ash fed his Pokemon and took a nice, warm shower before deciding to leave the room and enter the main lobby. Just like two days ago, he found Hugh and Rosa again, this time Hugh looking gleeful and Rosa looking a bit more down than usual.

"I won! I beat her Pidove!" Hugh exclaimed, waving his hands in the air like a madman. Rosa sighed, "I just caught Pidove. It was her first battle I think." Rosa looked to her Pokeball in her hands in pride though. "She did good for her first, though. She will be a great member of my team one day."

Hearing that, Ash was glad he had Jolt. He could rely on her for a lot of things Oshawott struggled with, like that Poliwag. 'I wonder how Poliwag is doing' Ash thought to himself. He hoped that Hugh would be able to put a stop to his horrible attitude.

"Oh hey, Ash!" Ash looked at Hugh, who was grinning. Rosa walked over to the counter to give Nurse Joy the Pokeball that Ash deduced had Pidove in it. "Catch any new Pokemon?" Hugh asked.

"As a matter of fact, I have." Ash released Jolt, who let out a cry and shot a buzz through her thick fur. She looked up at Hugh, curious as to who he was. She looked up to Ash, who nodded. She was relieved she didn't have to shock anyone today and went up to Hugh. "Flocessy Ranch?" Hugh asked Ash.

"Yup. The whole Plasma thing went down and I got her along the way." Hughes' eyes widened as if he had remembered something important. "Oh yeah! I forgot you took down a whole Plasma base!" Hugh exaggerated his success. The people that had once been there were gone, and only the weakest of grunts were left to finish the job, which they did. Ash couldn't stop them from finishing, which angered him beyond belief. Maybe if he had been there a few hours earlier and not looking for a Riolu.

Rosa walked back up to them and heard them talking about the Plasmas. "Good job Ash! I knew you were strong, but I didn't expect that!" Ash smiled sheepishly, flattered at the compliment he felt he didn't deserve. He took it nonetheless, accepting any compliment thrown his way.

"That's a nice Mareep Ash! It could easily take down Pidove by the looks of it!" Ash smiled at the praise. He frowned afterward, knowing he put in none of that training and he had to get Jolt used to being a trainer's Pokemon. Jolt would be easy though, she had been around humans all her life.

"Thanks, guys. I haven't really trained her yet, but I will soon." What he said was true, and he was planning to train both Mareep and Oshawott on their way back to Aspertia. Whether he had to camp out for a night or not didn't matter to him. As long as his Pokemon got stronger and they grew closer, he was happy.

Ash walked out of the Pokemon Center and out onto the street. He wanted to walk around for a little bit before he went out to Route 20. He went by the old Flocessy gym and looked in admiration. It was the old fire type gym, owned by Benga, Alder's son. The kid was a prodigy, becoming a gym leader after winning the Unova Pokemon League his second year, something unheard of. You usually would train for years on end before having a shot at winning.

Benga was Ash's inspiration, along with Alder of course. They gave him hope that he could win the Pokemon League, even in his early days. Of course, Ash wasn't Benga, but he would make do with what he could. His father had won the Indigo League, so why couldn't he?

The gym was old and beaten down. There were Spinirak making home between the pillars of the gym, a sad reminder of what the town used to and could have been. Benga's fire Pokemon would have taken them down with ease, but that was a thing of the past now that he shouldn't ponder.

"This place used to be beautiful." Ash jumped at the sound of a voice talking, but relaxed again when he noticed it was Alder. "There were lava pillars inside of obsidian glass tubes running up and down, and my son had his throne on the top." Ash looked inside of the gym's broken windows to see tubes of emptiness, a bit of ash left on the sides if you were to look closely.

"He wanted more though. Just like his dad, he just couldn't stop himself." Alder shook his head in sadness. Alder kept stories of Benga to himself. He didn't know what happened to him, but he knew that he and Benga weren't on speaking terms as of now. "I tried to stop him, but he just wouldn't listen. He founded the Black Tower and made it a powerful place filled with incredibly strong trainers, but it still wasn't enough." Alder looked down to his feet, tearing up. Ash didn't stop him.

"He went further than me in his quest for power, though. He wanted an ancient power that man hadn't seen for centuries." Ash widened his eyes. Benga went after the legendaries? That was one of the only things he knew that you shouldn't do when you were a trainer. "The Swords of Justice, ancient Pokemon who protected Unova from the greatest of threats. They had been alive for thrice as long as humans have been, and he thought he could control them."

Alder started to walk off toward his house, and Ash followed. "What happened?" He asked. Alder gave a bitter laugh and walked behind his house, down a path Ash knew to never go down, even if his life depended on it.

Alder beckoned him forward and for the first time in his year at Alder's house, he set foot onto the forbidden trail. He walked through a field of trees to find a big rock. The rock had the large slashes in it, slashes no normal Pokemon could create.

"He found what he was looking for." For the second time, Ash looked at Alder in pure shock. Someone found the legendaries! The ancient species of Pokemon created by Arceus to fulfill certain tasks in the world were real. Most couldn't breed, the few exceptions from legend being Lugia, Ho-oh, and Manaphy. That wasn't even fully true because, in legend, Manaphy gave birth to Phione, a lesser version of Manaphy.

"You might think it was great, a breakthrough in the field of science, but it wasn't. They were angry, for a mere human that they could defeat in mere seconds wanted to capture them." Ash felt like he knew where this story was going, and it wasn't good. "He challenged them to a fight, and they accepted. He thought that they respected him, so he sent out his strongest three in response."

Alder's face now had tear stains covering it. "It was a massacre. His Haxorus and Hydreigon were killed in one slash, and Arcanine barely held on due to Cobalion having a bit of mercy on the poor Pokemon who had a trainer cocky enough to challenge a force of nature." Cobalion. Ash remembered that name from legend. He was the honorable fighter who was known to be the kindest to humans out of the group.

"Benga fled in fear for his life, and the Swords of Justice let him live, not for him, but for his Pokemon. They left those slashes in the rock to serve as a reminder to never mess with a legendary." Benga was defeated. He put in years of training, and a legendary Pokemon beat him in three light slashes. "What happened to him?" Alder looked up at him, tears still in his eyes, threatening to fall once again. "I haven't heard from him in a year. He left without talking to anyone and nobody knows where he is now." Ash decided at that moment, seeing Alder in so much pain.

"I'll find him." Alder nearly got whiplash he looked at him so fast. "You can't, you'll just walk down the same path we did in doing so." Ash trusted Alder more than almost everyone in his life, even Professor Oak from Kanto. He would listen to him, but he was still wary.

"Could you do me a favor and not tell anyone that." Ash shivered from the lack of his usual happy tone of voice and nodded. Alder nodded back to him solemnly and walked out of the field. Ash took one last look at the rock, a symbol of the power of the legendary species, and walked out after him.

As he walked out, he noticed red sparkles in the air, just like his first day of adventuring. His feelings started to change all of a sudden. Instead of feeling sad about Benga's story, he was motivated to find out what happened to him and bring him back home. He smiled to himself and walked out again, not noticing the light giggle and fade of the red sparkles.

Ash reached the gate to Route 20 looked back to Alder's house. He would keep what he said a secret, even from Rosa and Hugh. He respected Alder as much as his parents and more than his closest of friends.

Route 20 looked exactly like he remembered. The trainers lining up to challenge weak travelers at the end of it, the forest looming in darkness and the river that you could faintly see from where he was standing. Ash looked at his Pokeballs and remembered something he had meant to do a while ago.

He got out the TM for Double Team and the TM machine Alder gave him at the start of his journey. All you had to do was put the device up to the Pokeball of the Pokemon you wanted to have the move and put the TM in the machine. He put the machine on Jolt's Pokeball and the machine whirred, letting Ash know it was working. After about ten seconds it stopped and Ash removed the device. Ash did the same to Oshawott's Pokeball.

Ash released Oshawott and Jolt, who looked around at their new environment. Oshawott recognized it from the first day he was with Ash while Jolt didn't recognize it in the slightest. Nonetheless, she was always up for a new adventure.

Something felt out of place in their minds. Like it had not been there in the morning but was now there. Ash held out the TM to the two. "This is a TM, an item that lets me teach you a new move. This one has unlimited uses, so I taught it to both of you." Jolt and Oshawott looked up to Ash in shock. It usually took a few days or even a week to learn a weak move, and up to a month for some powerful moves to be mastered, and they could just use a weird device to do it for them?

"Before you ask, many moves aren't TMs yet, so don't get your hopes high." Oshawott still looked confident in his abilities to learn moves on his own, as did Jolt. Even though some moves couldn't be learned, there were still some that could, right?

"Alright Oshawott, use Double Team!" Despite never having heard the name of the move, Oshawott immediately knew what he was talking about and focused his energy on himself. After a mere half-second of focusing, he opened his eyes to see four other copies of himself.

"Well, maybe it isn't perfected at first," Ash commented sheepishly. Even if a Pokemon learned a move on its own, it wasn't perfect right off the bat. It took time to gain full control over them, as Ash had learned just now. Unlike how they were marketed, TMs just made the Pokemon faintly know the move, not master it.

"You too Jolt! Double Team!" Like Oshawott, Jolt knew what he meant and multiplied herself into five different parts. She looked over at them, and they looked back at her. It was a weird feeling. She could see through all of their eyes at once but was seeing through one pair that she always had. The copies went back into her body, and she shivered, unnerved by the foreign feeling she had just felt.

Ash clapped for the both of them, proud as can be. "Good job! We just have to practice getting more copies out and we'll be in the clear!" Jolt looked at him in despair. She had to do that in battle, and be able to use moves? They will have to practice a lot just to get used to the feeling, let alone battle with it.

Se they set off towards Aspertia. Ash was ready to go home and see his mom again. He hadn't called her in a while, and he would have to make sure he did that a lot more often. He didn't want his mother mad at him, that was a death wish.

A few trainers battled him in his first few minutes out. They sent out weak Patrat and Purrloin that Ash could easily take out in a Thunder Shock or Water Gun from his two beloved Pokemon. It got them a bit of practice with Double Team. They were weak, so Ash could risk using the move in battles with them. It made them really nervous as well, which made Ash win easily.

After beating a few trainers, the others understood he wasn't a newbie like almost everyone else and let him pass. He liked having that respect and wanted to keep it by winning every battle he was presented.

Ash and his small team walked for roughly thirty more minutes before stopping. Ash wanted to teach Jolt and Oshawott new moves, and he knew precisely which ones to teach them. Oshawott' Water Gun was a weak special attack that even the most basic of water types could learn.

Water Pulse was a move that had Pokemon summon water through something of theirs, like Oshawott's hands. You charged that water and shot it at your opponent. It was nearly twice as powerful as Water Gun and had the chance of confusing the opposing Pokemon upon hitting it.

Jolt was fine with her moves, but he wanted something to work on her speed options. Cotton Spore was a move that enveloped the foe with cotton or wool and made their speed lower in great amounts. If Jolt could learn that, she could outspeed an opponent, use Double Team and beat down on others with Thunder Shock.

Ash knew that these moves could take a while to learn, but he was hoping that it would only take a day or two at most.

Ash laid down a few blankets and set his backpack down. They were about halfway through the route from what Ash remembered, and they decided to stop for a while. Ash needed to break the news of learning new moves to the two, and he knew it might not be taken well by one of his two in particular.

"So, we need to learn new moves," Oshawott's head snapped up to Ash in a millisecond. New moves? They had just learned Double Team, how much training did they have to do today? Unlike Oshawott, Jolt was happy at the news. She was always ecstatic to learn new moves that could help her in battle, no matter how hard it could be.

"Oshawott, you need more ranged moves." Oshawott begrudgingly agreed with that statement. Water Gun was a good move to start with, but not powerful enough to take down enemies. The grunts in the Plasma base were weak, most likely the weakest of the entire group, and it took multiple moves from Oshawott to beat them.

"Jolt, you need to work on speed." Jolt couldn't disagree with that. Her species were not known for their speed, but what could he do about that? Her line couldn't learn moves like Agility unless they were one of the lucky ones who got an egg move.

"Oshawott, we're going to be training you to learn the move Water Pulse. Jolt, you're learning Cotton Spore." Oshawott sighed in exasperation. When would Ash discover that learning new moves is a challenge?

They got right to work with their moves. First, Ash practiced controlling water that was already there, like from a river. He had Oshawott channel water from the river to his hands. Or were they stubs? No matter, Oshawott closed his eyes and focused. He imagined the water forming in his hands, and he could feel it swirling around. He opened his eyes, expecting to see the water, but there was nothing. "We're going to need to work on this for a while."

Leaving Oshawott to his endeavors, Ash went over to Jolt. He had her experimenting on creating more wool out of thin air. Her species could do it mildly easily, but it looked like Jolt was having a bit of trouble. Instead of wool, electricity crackled through the outermost layers of her wool.

"What's happening, Jolt?" Jolt opened her eyes and whimpered. "It looks like this isn't as easy as I once thought," Ash whispered to himself. He wasn't worried about them, he knew they would get it down eventually. He was just worried that the others would go on without him if he didn't go fast enough.

He sighed to himself. It was better for his Pokemon to be stronger than not. "Alright, fluff your wool as much as possible." Jolt sent electricity through her fur and some wool grew out on the top. Even Jolt looked surprised, as she knew she could create wool, but not this fast.

"Great! Now try and separate it from the other wool." Jolt shook her wool out a bit more with her static electricity and some of it flopped to the ground. "Now we just need to be able to direct it." Jolt laid down, tired from generating wool that fast just once. Is that what it would take every time? She hoped not.

Jolt got back up and went to practice, this time with less wool than before. Ash went back down to Oshawott, who seemed to slowly get the hang of holding water without hands, just with his abilities as a Pokemon. Water Pokemon had a special connection with water that allowed them to control it in ways no other Pokemon could hope to. It was the same with all types regarding their special element, whether it be draconic energy or rocks.

"Osha! Wott!" Oshawott exclaimed, holding barely a cup full of water between his hands. "Alright Oshawott, now release it!" Oshawott gave a war cry and pushed his arms forward. The water barely fell in front of his webbed feet. Oshawott looked down at the water in shock at first, then despair, the sat down in sadness.

Ash went up and rubbed his back soothingly. "There, there Oshawott. You can hold the water now, all you need is to ball it up and throw it forward." Oshawott perked up again. That's right, the whole ordeal wasn't a complete failure. He could hold water in his hands! So many new water moves could come from this development!

"Now we just need to work on you summoning it." Oshawott, overwhelmed, fell over on his back. He didn't think it would be too bad at least. He could summon it in his lungs, who not outside of them. He jumped back up and worked on capturing the feeling of using Water Gun and summoning that same water in his hands.

Ash walked back up to Jolt and saw her summoning much more wool than before. At least she was taking to learning new moves better than Oshawott. "Alright Jolt, now throw it at me." Jolt looked up in surprise and shook her head rapidly. "I'll be fine! It's just a bit of wool, right?" Jolt nodded hesitantly and launched some wool at him. Ash left something stick to his skin and he looked down to see the wool. The wool was sticky? How as that possible? Jolt's wasn't?

Ash scraped the wool off of him and looked up the move in his Pokedex. "The user generates sticky spores and launches them at the enemy." Oh. So it wasn't wool, she had been generating spores. It was good to know, but for now, he had to congratulate Jolt on her success in learning a new move.

"You did it!" Jolt gave a light cry and a smile. Two new moves in one day made Jolt much more versatile in fights. She shot a Thunder Shock up to the sky in celebration at her new moves. "For now, just practice Double Team while I work with Oshawott." Jolt nodded obediently as Ash left to work on Water Pulse.

The reason Oshawott was having so much trouble was that Water Pulse was a move that Dewott usually learned easily, not Oshawott. When an Oshawott evolves, they gain the move Razor Shell, a move that teaches them how to summon water outside of their bodies. It took either a lot of effort or a really good trainer to get an Oshawott to learn Water Pulse.

Ash walked down to the river near their campsite to see Oshawott's eyes closed. He had water swirling around in between his hand. 'I think they're fins.' Ash thought in realization. He wasn't paying attention to his surroundings as he walked over and he broke a huge branch. Oshawott turned in his direction, expecting an enemy and accidentally released the energy he had been storing in his hands. The small ball of water went towards Ash and, before he noticed what was happening, he was soaking wet.

"Oshawott." Ash gritted his teeth together, infuriated that one of his two dry pairs of clothes was wet. Oshawott gave an embarrassed smile and prepared to run before they both noticed something about what had just occurred. "Was that a Water Pulse, Oshawott?" Oshawott slowly nodded. It was weak and could barely take down a Patrat, but it was still a Water Pulse.

"Osha!" Oshawott gave a cheer at his breakthrough. He had been so concentrated on summoning the water that was in his lungs that he didn't realize he was summoning water outside of them. "I'm still soaking wet you know." Ash murmured threateningly. Oshawott gave a light laugh before dashing away. "Get back here!" They were both laughing as they ran back to their campsite, both wet.

Ash changed his clothes and, seeing it was already dark, decided to camp out for the night. He got out a lighter and lit a few pieces of deadwood on fire. "Once we get a fire Pokemon, we won't need this thing," Ash told his team of two about his horribly dysfunctional lighter that barely even flickered when turned on. Oshawott gave a snicker at his dilemma. Jolt just sighed and scooted closer to the fire.

She didn't notice her wool getting so close to the fire that it caught on fire. Once she did notice, about five seconds later, she ran around in circles in fear before making a mad dash for the river. Even Ash laughed as Jolt leaped into the river. She got out and saw her wool was partly burned off and gave a whimper.

Ash made them some food for the second time that day. Oshawott, instead of eating his, stole some of Ash's food. As had been told to him previously, Pokemon liked human food, even if it was the died granola that Ash was eating. Ash swatted Oshawott in the back of the head and he took the walk of shame back to his bowl of Pokemon food.

Ash got into his sleeping bag and Oshawott and Jolt found comparable spots on their blankets set down many hours prior and fell asleep. Ash stayed awake for a little while longer and looked at his team. Most people relied on lots of Pokemon to have versatility and be strong. Ash, on the other hand, wanted a small group of Pokemon that he could consider his second family. He already felt that, with his courageous but mischevious Oshawott and his kind but clumsy Mareep, Jolt.

The crackling of the fire a few feet away put Ash to sleep.

The morning sun shone over Ash's campsite as he packed his bags for the first time in a day. He woke up and head breakfast with his Pokemon before practicing Water Pulse with Oshawott more to make sure he could still perform the move.

Oshawott summoned water between his fins and shot the ball of water forward into the river. An indignant Basculin jumped out of the water and shouted something at Oshawott, who looked flustered, before swimming off. Oshawott turned and grinned at Ash, who grinned back. Oshawott had learned Water Pulse.

Ash was confident that Jolt had Cotton Spore down to a tee, so he didn't practice with her. He put his backpack on, but there was still one more thing he wanted to check before they left. "Can you guys try using Double Team?"

Ash's Pokemon both nodded and used Double Team. Jolt seemed to have it down, creating eight copies of herself. Oshawott was struggling because he didn't have the chance to practice it the day prior as Jolt had. He still had four copies of himself, but any more and he wouldn't be able to move.

"Now use a move." Oshawott's eyes bugged out. Use a move in his state? Was Ash crazy? Well, it seemed he wasn't because the group of Mareep used Thunder Shock, albeit a much weaker one than usual. Being the leader of the team who hated to be one-uped, Oshawott decided to try a Water Pulse. They formed correctly, but the execution was where everything went wrong. One flew into the trees, two into the river, one into Ash and the last into Jolt.

"Hey!" "Reep!" Ash and Jolt both glared at Oshawott, who looked guilty. "We gotta work on your control." Oshawott looked up and nodded, glad Ash wasn't angry with him. He felt a light zap and looked at Jolt, who looked around innocently. He growled but didn't do anything rash. Jolt gave an uncharacteristic snicker and walked after Ash, who had already started down the trail to Aspertia.

The rest of the journey was uneventful. There was that one trainer that he had faced the first day who challenged him again. He just had Jolt destroy his unchanged Patrat. "I'll be just as strong as you one day!" Ash sighed and shook his head. It was just a kid, he had no reason to be angry. You needed effort to become strong, not just sitting in one spot like most money-hungry trainers did.

He saw Rosa catching a Purrloin off in the distance near the gate back to Aspertia. While he wasn't fond of them, they could be great teammates when trainer correctly. Before he could catch up to her and talk, she had already caught it and entered the gate to Aspertia.

Aspertia hadn't changed a bit since he was last there. Still a quiet city with more people than you would expect from the atmosphere of the place. You nearly knew everyone who lived there and nobody tried to disturb their peace. It made it one of the best places for someone who wanted to settle down for their life to live.

That wasn't Ash though. He walked through the city, seeing very few people despite the amount of people. Most who lived here worked all day and slept all night, a vicious cycle that trapped too many people.

Ash wanted to journey around and become one of the best trainers in the world, but it wasn't just for that. He didn't want to become a businessman who would betray anyone if it meant a few more thousand Pokedollars in his account at the end of the month. He would stay true to himself and never be corrupted by the cruel society they lived in.

He wanted to go by his mother's house to show him his progress before challenging the gym. He knocked on the door and Mimey came out, waving at him cheerfully. He smiled at the joyful Pokemon and walked through the doors to look at his house.

He never really took in how great his house was. It looked like a normal house, with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and other rooms that fulfilled certain necessities. He walked over to his mother's room and was about to turn her doorknob. He heard it opening on its own, then the door flying open, then him being hugged tightly.

"Hello, Ash!" Delia exclaimed, still hugging him so tightly he could barely breathe. "Hey, Mom," Ash squeezed out, still being suffocated, "Can you let me go?" Delia let go of him when he asked but wasn't affected by it. After all, she was his mother and could do things others can't do to him.

"Did you catch and Pokemon?" Ash nodded. "Yes. I caught one, and have been training the two hard since." His mother nodded approvingly and motioned for him to release them. Ash enlargened the two Pokeballs and let them out.

"Oshawott!" "Reep!" The two gave their signature cries as they were let out. Delia looked to Ash in mild surprise. "The owners of Flocessy Ranch usually don't like people taking their Pokemon, especially Mareep! You must be good friends with them!" Ash shook his head in mild anger. The owners didn't care about the Pokemon at their ranch in the least unless they were making money for them. If they truly cared about them, they wouldn't have let over 200 of them get captured. Nevertheless, he still respected them and thought they were nice, so they weren't too bad in his books.

Oshawott looked up to the woman, vaguely remembering her from the first few hours of his time with Ash. Jolt hadn't seen her thus far and asked Oshawott who she was. He explained to her that she was Ash's mother, and was to be treated with the utmost respect. Jolt nodded and straightened her wool out, wanting to look good for someone who Ash respected a lot.

"They're so cute!" Oshawott had a despaired look on his pace like the first day of Ash's journey and Jolt just fluffed her wool even more at the praise.

"Well, we have to go battle the gym, but we'll be back, don't worry," Ash told his mother. She nodded in acceptance and kissed him on the cheek goodbye. He wiped it off and stepped outside, feeling a cool breeze hit his skin. He walked down the street to the gym.

The gym wasn't your typical gym. It was much like Lenora's, with the students and booked lined up against the walls. Unlike Lenora's, though, this one was a Pokemon School. It taught aspiring trainers how to battle, the Pokemon types and the Pokemon found in Unova. It was a region-wide craze, everyone from Undella to Virbank sending their children here to teach them the arts of battling.

In Unova, you could register as a trainer starting at age seven, as long as you were approved directly by a League member. Alder was still considered one, even after his days as champion, so Ash could get his Pokemon.

The school accepted children from ages seven to fifteen. After fifteen, you would need a private coach or experienced trainer if you wanted lessons. Ash never needed this because Alder taught him everything you needed to know about battling. The school was very expensive but well worth it.

He walked in and looked around. As he had expected, it looked like a school, but there were also corridors with what looked like apartments in them. He assumed that transfer students from faraway cities and other regions entirely stayed in these rooms.

He looked around for any signs that might point to a gym but he didn't find any. He asked one of the teachers roaming the halls and she brightened at his request. She pointed him to one of the classrooms and walked him over.

"Cheren hasn't had a challenger yet. His students will be very excited." Ash wasn't too surprised at the fact he was the first challenger. Aspertia was out of the way to trainers coming from Nuvema. He figured the challengers would pick up due to the school that had been installed just a few weeks ago and the gym only being open for a few days.

She opened the door and Ash saw Cheren. He had black hair that hung off his sides and an ahoge in the middle of his hair. As to be expected, he had a suit and tie on with blue jeans to complete the look.

Cheren smiled at the teacher, "Yes, Lauren?" She answered by pointing at Ash and saying, "We have our first challenger." The kids cheered in excitement at the thought of seeing a real Pokemon battle, from their all-powerful teacher nonetheless.

"And what would you name be?" Ash looked at him confidently, "Ash. Ash Ketchum." Cheren smiled goodheartedly at the mention of his last name. "So you're related to Delia Ketchum?" Ash nodded, making Cheren's smile widen. "She's very nice, you know. You're very lucky to have her like your mother." Ash smiled fondly and nodded.

"Well, let's go out to the field." The kids cheered and followed Ash and Cheren in a straight line until they reached the field. It was what you would expect from an outdoor field, but modified to let the students get close to the action and learn from the battle. The stands were close to the field and there were cameras all around that would film the battle and let students study it.

"How many badges do you have Ash?" Cheren asked. "None." Cheren nodded to the referee and they brought him two Pokemon. "This will be a two on two battle. The challenger is allowed substitutions while the leader, Cheren, is not. Are there any disagreements." Both Ash and Cheren nodded. Ash was fully prepared for this battle and was getting excited just thinking about it.

"Go, Patrat!" A squeak was heard and Ash saw a Patrat form on the field. It wasn't like any others he had seen so far, as it was big for a Patrat and seemed to be observing everything around it as a Watchdog would in it's prime. "This little guy is on track to become one of the most powerful Watchdog to ever live. Tread carefully." Cheren warned Ash, who nodded appreciatively and released his Pokemon.

"Volt, let's go!" Ash had debated about who to use for a while but decided to lead with Volt. If she was able to defeat this monster of a Patrat, she could slow down or paralyze his next Pokemon. Oshawott was more powerful than Volt, while Volt could use status moves to her advantage, unlike Oshawott.

"Battle begin!" Ash got in a battle stance and didn't see Cheren trying to go for any moves. He took the chance to make his move. "Thunder Wave!" At this point in the battle, making sure Patrat was paralyzed was much more important than doing bits of damage to it. He had to be careful with the little thing.

"Dodge." Patrat easily lept to the side and dodged the wave. "This is gonna be hard." Ash gritted his teeth. Patrat weren't known for their speed, and Ash wasn't counting on that. Luckily, he had a failsafe in case he got into a situation like this. "Cotton Spore!"

Jolt shot the spores across the field. Some of them missed Patrat, but the higher amount landed a hit on him. Patrat was knocked down, but got up fast. He moved around the field and acted like he wasn't affected, but he could see the strain in keeping up his speeds.

"Get in close and use Crunch." Patrat used all of its energy in one move, moving at a breakneck pace to land a Crunch on Jolt. Ash knew Jolt didn't have the speed to evade, so he went for something else.

"Thunder Wave!" Patrat wasn't focused on dodging moves as it ran up, and was immobilized by the sudden Thunder Wave. "Patrat! Are you okay?" Patrat nodded and glared at Jolt. He then did something unexpected and ran towards Jolt again. Ash couldn't get a word out of his mouth before Jolt was hit by Crunch directly. She let out a cry of pain before stumbling backward. Patrat went to perform another attack but was immobilized by the paralysis inflicted earlier.

"Now's our chance! Thunder Shock!" Even in her pain, Jolt understood Ash and loaded up a Thunder Shock. The students in the stands could only watch in horror as Patrat was stuck in one place, trying to move only to fail. "Rat!" Patrat got hit by the Thunder Shock and went onto his back.

"Patrat is unable to battle. Cheren, please release your next Pokemon." The students looked shocked for a second before cheering uncontrollably loud, even to the point it hurt Ash's ears. The students quieted down and Cheren talked for a second. "Patrat was very powerful with his speed but was weak in his defenses." Ash nodded in agreement at his statement.

"Here is someone who is just as fast but has a good defense also." Cheren released a Lillipup. Ash could see a feral look in her eyes as the students went dead silent. "I found her in a back alley in the school attacking some students. I caught her and disciplined her well, but she still has the instincts of a beast."

Ash felt a sense of dread come upon him as he looked at the Lillipup frothing at the mouth while looking at Jolt. "Battle, begin!" Ash had to think of something fast or Jolt would be taken out immediately. "'Cotton Spore!" Jolt sent out her spores, but only a few hit Lillipup as she gracefully yet threateningly dodged while closing in on Jolt, like a predator hunting its prey. She was still slowed a tad, but relatively unaffected.

"Crunch." Lillipup rushed in and landed a devastating Crunch on Jolt. She let out a cry as Lillipup looked like she was about to eat her. "Stop." Just like that, Lillipup whined and backed off from the heavily damaged Mareep and Ash looked at her. She was undoubtedly unconscious, and he was thankful that Cheren called off Lillipup before she did more damage. He recalled Jolt and whispered his thanks to her Pokeball.

"Challenger, you may choose your next Pokemon." Breaking out of his shock, he released Oshawott onto the environment. The children in the stands gave surprised noises at the sight of one of the rare Unova starters. Well, it wasn't as rare now due to Juniper handing them out like they were nothing, but still rare in Aspertia.

"Battle, begin!" Ash looked at Oshawott, who nodded to him confidently. Ash nodded back because if Oshawott thought they could do it, then he should too. "Water Sport!" Ash had thought of this strategy a while ago. If the field was muddy, it would affect Cheren's normal type more than Oshwott, a water type. When the Water Sport came out, everything around Oshawott muddy instead of dry.

Cheren looked more determined to win than ever, and Ash looked the same. The two Pokemon on the battlefield stared each other down and glared until their trainers gave them the word to attack. They got that word very soon.

"Work Up!" Lillipup started shaking and had steam coming off of her. "Focus Energy!" Unlike Lillipup, Oshawott focused on himself and in just ten seconds, his eyes opened up, glowing yellow. They looked at each other again. They both had the instincts of the prehistoric Pokemon there before Humans who had to survive without leaning on each other to survive. They were on level ground now.

"Bite!" Lilipup rushed forward, albeit a bit slower than before, and bared her vicious fangs that, at one point, had the body of some unfortunate Pokemon in them. "Dodge and use Water Pulse!" Now, usually, Oshawott wouldn't be able to dodge with Lillipup's sheer speed and accuracy. This time though, Lillipup's speed was lower than usual and he had the same instincts as her, so he was able to leap to the left and blast Lillipup in the side of her head with a powerful Water Pulse.

Lillipup looked around, confused about what was going on for a second before snapping out of it and facing Lillipup again. Cheren saw that and grew worried. While it was a low chance, Water Pulse could confuse enemies, and with Oshawott's accuracy in his state, he doubted getting confusion off of the move was just a stroke of luck. He would tread carefully in this battle against this skilled trainer who didn't even have a badge yet.

"Water Pulse again!" Oshawott used Water Pulse from far away, which gave Lillipup the chance to dodge it. She looked around, dizzy again for a second, before snapping out once again. This time though, Ash noticed her state too. He knew this might be the only advantage he would get the entire round and he needed to push it.

Ash needed to be able to dodge her moves without risk, and got a plan. "Double Team!" Oshawott multiplied himself into nine different Oshawotts of the same mind. The students in the stands gave their approval at the move, fueling Oshawott's confidence. "Tackle!" Lillipup moved quickly and tackled six of the copies, making them disappear. The others disappeared too, leaving Lillipup looking around in confusion and the real Oshawott in a prime position to hit an attack.

"Move in and use Tackle!" Oshawott dashed in and slammed into Lillipup with a quick Tackle. Oshawott ran off to his side again as Lilipup slowly got up. She looked around, everything blurry for her. Did she just hear her trainer say to bite the enemy? She would if he asked, and she looked around for that elusive Oshawott.

Where was the Oshawott? She had looked everywhere in the field and hadn't seen him. There was only one way that was possible, and it was that Oshawott was right behind her. The frantic yells from her trainer only convinced her that he was there. She bared her fangs and bit behind her powerfully. The blurriness around her faded and, instead of the enemy Oshawott, she was biting herself. She could hear her trainer telling her to stop, and she did, whimpering in pain as she limped around.

Ash looked at Cheren, who looked annoyed that his Lillipup got confused to the point that she it herself. "Water Gun." Oshawott built-up water in his mouth and let it out at the Lilipup who couldn't get herself to move. She was pushed back until she hit the side of the arena, knocked out. "The challenger has won!"

Ash looked around in shock, as did Oshawott. Did they just win, or was this still a dream from the first day of their journey? They heard the cheering from the children and clapping from Cheren's hands and realized that they had won. "We did it Oshawott!" Oshawott jumped around in joy, happy that he had won his first battle. "Osha!"

Cheren walked up to Ash's stand that he battled on. "That was a great battle, Ash. Nobody but my main team had defeated that Lillipup so easily." Ash grinned at Oshawott, who grinned back with a proud look on his face.

"Still, you have a ways to go before you become Champion." Ash frowned but understood what he meant. "I could defeat both of you Pokemon with ease if I used my more experienced Pokemon, but since you have no badges yet, you have a handicap." Oshawott looked up to Ash in shock. That was a handicapped match? What would a match with his main team be like?

"I see a flame in you that I haven't seen in anyone for a long time." Ash looked at Cheren in confusion, not knowing what he meant by the flame and who else he had seen it in. "Who else?" Cheren looked at Ash, remembering something from long ago, a happier time for him. "Hilbert."

Did Cheren just compare him to the savior of Unova? That was the highest compliment you could give a trainer, being compared to a literal prophecized hero that saved countless lives. "Thank you." Cheren smiled and nodded. "I expect great things from you, Ash Ketchum. I hope you live up to my expectations." Ash nodded like he was one of Cheren's students.

"Back to class kids." All of the students in the stands groaned in sadness and slowly lined up and walked back into the building. Cheren looked back at Ash and pulled out two items. One was a disc and the other was a badge, specifically the Basic Badge. The badge was the first of it's kind, making the rarest badge in existence at the moment.

"You earned that badge. It shows that you have beat this gym and can go to Virbank City." Ash opened his badge case and inserted it into one of the twelve spots. It fit perfectly into the twelfth spot, showing it was the newest of the gyms, but most definitely not the easiest.

"Take this also. It's the TM for Work Up, the move Lillipup used against you in the battle. I hope you can find some use for it." Ash had heard of a select few challengers getting TMs from gyms after defeating them, but getting one of the items without was near unheard of. He now had two TMs that he could put to use.

Cheren smiled at Ash, "I hope you learned a lot from this battle because I know I sure did." Cheren laughed and walked inside, going into the classroom he had come out of just thirty minutes earlier.

Ash looked down at the badge again. He had worked very hard for this, and he was proud of it. It showed that all of his Pokemon's hard work was worth it, and they were improving a lot. Oshwott's nonstop training with Water Pulse and Jolt's training with both Double Team and Cotton Spore came in very useful today, and he was as proud as a trainer could be.

He heard clapping from the stands and saw Alder walk up to him. "When did you get here?" Ash asked Alder. He let out a boisterous laugh and responded, "I watched the whole match. You really are a great trainer Ash!" Ash chuckled with Alder. "I don't know about that one. He used a handicap and I still barely won."

"You've been on your journey for three days only! Hugh's taking another two days to train before challenging Cheren and Rosa isn't doing the gym circuit!" Woah, so he was way ahead of the game. A smile crept onto Ash's face as he realized the reality of his victory. He beat a gym leader with only three days of training.

"You should go home and rest for the night, it's already six." Ash looked at Alder, startled. Had he already lost his sense of time? He looked up and saw the sky slowly but surely darkening and decided Alder was right. He gave Alder a wave as he ran back through the school.

Ash ran over to the Pokemon Center that was connected to the school. "Did you win?" Not thinking to ask how Nurse Joy knew that he had challenged Chere, he nodded vigorously, still high adrenaline. Nurse Joy giggled before telling him to sit down in the lobby.

A few minutes later, his name was called and he went up to the counter and retrieved his Pokeballs. He thanked Nurse Joy and ran all the way home, bursting through the doors. "Mime!" Mimey scolded him for causing such a ruckus with his entrance. Ash gave a sheepish smile and went to his mother's room. This time, instead of her coming out first, he opened the door. She was sitting in her chair watching the news when Ash came in, and she jumped as if she was hit with a Thunder Shock.

"Jeez, Ashy! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Ash waved it off and told her the news, explaining every little detail about how he won his battle. "That's great Ash! Have you thanked your Pokemon?" Ash shook his head and ran out to do just that. Delia smiled fondly before going back to watching her news program.

Ash released Oshawott and Jolt. Jolt was looking at Ash nervously, not knowing if they won, while Oshawott looked at Ash with great pride in his eyes. "We won!" Even though he already knew, Oshawott was excited enough to shoot a Water Gun up into the air. Jolt sent shocks of electricity through her wool in excitement.

"You both did great today. I'm proud of you." Mareep gave a cry in response and snuggled into Ash, lightly shocking while Oshawott smirked and looked at Ash in happiness and pride. "Let's go to sleep."

They walked back into the house and the Pokemon were greeted be Mimey ushering them out of the house and making them wipe their feet off. Mimey didn't want even a speck of dust in the house when he could stop it. The two gave Mimey a strange look and wiped their feet. Mimey moved to the side, allowing them in. Ash ran upstairs to his room and his two Pokemon followed shortly after.

Ash looked to at the two. He was changed into his pajamas and laid down in his bed, Oshawott on his left and Jolt on his right. "You know Oshawott, I was thinking about you the night before I started my journey." Oshawott looked at Ash weirdly. "Hey, don't look at me like that! I was just wondering what my starter Pokemon would be!" Oshawott accepted that as an answer and laid back down.

At first, Jolt found sleeping in a bed to be odd but was now in love with it. It was soft, cozy, and bent in just the right way to keep you comfortable, even if you moved. Oshawott had slept in a bed before, but that didn't take away the amazing feeling of it.

The three went to sleep proud of their success and looking forward to their next success.


	3. Dangers

**Sorry for the longer wait than usual, I've been really busy and haven't had enough time to write. I hope a 10k chapter makes up for it. Oh, and also, thanks for 1k views, it keeps me motivated to write more.**

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Ash woke up in his bed for the first time in half a week. He was still excited to go out and explore the world, get gym badges and get stronger. The only thing that changed was he now had two warm bodies that helped him in that dream.

Oshawott, his starter Pokemon. Oshawott had been with him the first day when they ran from Liepard and Watchdog that could have easily taken their lives if they weren't careful.

The Pokemon that was able to defeat the first gym leader for him without sustaining any damage. Even Ash was impressed with that, especially with how well Focus Energy and Water Pulse worked when used together. He would have to use that a lot more often now.

Jolt, the Mareep he caught in Floccesy Ranch after she had been captured by the dastardly Team Plasma. She was the key player in freeing all of the other Pokemon from Plasma and helped Ash in a fight. He didn't capture her by force, she joined him.

He wasn't too sure why, if it was the battle or him freeing her friends, but she had become a great member of the team. She took down the powerful Patrat on her own and slowed Lillipup down for Oshawott in his battle against Cheren.

"Ow!" Speaking of Jolt, he accidentally woke her up with his thinking and she shocked him and Oshawott by reflex. "Osha" Oshawott woke up with a start, feeling like he had been barbequed by a master chef and was about to be eaten by some extremely wealthy family.

He looked up to see it was only Jolt. A Water Pulse sent her off of the bed and his problem with it. He closed his eyes to go back to sleep.

"My bed is soaking wet!"

Ash's scream rang throughout the house, alerting Delia to the fact he was awake. "Are you okay Honey?" She called from downstairs.

"Yeah, I'm fine!"

'Other than the fact that these idiots got my bed soaking wet.' Ash thought to himself, seething. He turned his glance to the two Pokemon and shivers sent down their spine.

They gave a disconcerted smile before bolting downstairs. "Get back here!" Ash yelled at them from the top, still in his soaking pajamas.

"Oh forget it." Ash turned around and decided to go on with his day. He probably wouldn't be sleeping in that bed for a while now anyway.

"Woah." It sunk in that he would be so far away from home for at most eight months before the league started up. He took in everything around him, like the Snorlax pillow on the ground that he got when he was six and that annoying little alarm clock he had debated breaking at least a dozen times.

He wouldn't miss that alarm clock for sure. He would miss his bed, even if it was sopping wet now, just like him. He remembered what he came back into the room for and hopped in the shower. The hot water hit his cold skin and he sighed.

"Yup. I'm gonna miss this."

His Pokemon were still fearfully hiding downstairs outside of the kitchen, fearing his wrath. What if he put them in those Pokeballs he had control of for days? No, he couldn't. He needed them to get through the routes.

Oshawott peered around the corner and Jolt pulled him back. She didn't know what Ash was like when he was mad, so she was more nervous than Oshawott. Oshawott was still a bit nervous but knew he was very far from his breaking point. They heard footsteps going down the stairs and tensed up, wondering how long it would take to find them.

"You're not slick." They looked up to see he was standing above them with a devilish smirk on his face. How had he found them so easily? They made sure to go behind the plants where they couldn't be seen without somebody looking straight at it, so how?

Ash looked down to the ground and grinned. Jolt wondered what he was looking at and looked down with him.

A pool of water was trickling between the tiles on the floor and was almost at Ash's shoes at this point. "Reep." She giggled nervously and looked at Ash.

"C'mon, let's go." Ash made his way for the door. The two guilty Pokemon looked at each other in wonder, thinking they were off the hook. They got out of their "hiding places" and ran after Ash.

"Goodbye, Ash!" His mother called through the window. "Bye Mom!"

A few minutes later, they were back at the gate to Route 19. "I forgot about this part." Ash was excited to go on a new route and didn't want to deal with the boring route again, his Pokemon's faces reflecting his feelings as well.

"Well, let's go." They went through the gate and looked at the news board. "Team Plasma sighted in old ruins, archaeologist Professor Juniper says." So they were back and not just some weird fluke. That didn't comfort him.

Not worrying too much about it, he set off onto the straight route. He didn't want to train here, he wanted to train against the stronger wild Pokemon from the bottom half of Route 20. He could maybe find some Dunsparse, Sewaddle and maybe even some Whirlipede to take down.

Until then, he had to go through Route 19. Just a straight line with nothing to do but walk. Great. He couldn't even train reliably because all of the trainers here would need a year to get a badge at the pace they were going.

"Ash!" A voice called by name from the forest. Anybody who he told his name on this route wouldn't have remembered it, so who could it be?

"It's me, Hugh!" 'Well, that answers my question.' Ash told himself as he walked after the voice. It was early in the morning, so he didn't think he had much to worry about in terms of wild Pokemon. There was a clearing in there forest where he saw Hugh, standing with not two, but three Pokemon now.

Of course, he had his fiery Tepig and trickster Poliwag, but he had a new teammate. A Sewaddle shied behind him as Ash walked up.

Most Sewaddle around here were like this due to the harsh environment they grew up in. The Pidove waiting for a chance to pick them off and the merciless Venipede near the bottom were major threats. They couldn't even try to get to an island due to the murderous Basculin that patrol the waters.

Hugh patted the Sewaddle on the back. "It's okay, Sewaddle. He's a friend." The Sewaddle came out from behind him and muttered a greeting to me before disappearing behind him once again. "She's a little shy."

"I can tell." Ash responded, "So why did you call me over here?"

Hugh grinned at his question and Ash knew what was coming next. Hugh had a specific grin for this specific occasion and never failed in shining it when the prospect of one was shown.

"Let's battle!" Ash nodded, but Hugh kept going. "I'm not going to be using Sewaddle. She hasn't battled yet and this will be the first battle she will ever watch I think." That surprised him a bit. He must have caught her very recently, but you don't see many around Route 19, so how did she get there?

It didn't matter right now though, what did was battling Hugh. Ash was honestly quite relieved that Hugh wasn't using Sewaddle. Grass types countered his whole team at the moment, making even a new Sewaddle a threat to him.

The type resisted Jolt's shocks and could outspeed her by using moves like String Shot. Of course, Oshawott couldn't do anything to her, especially if she had grass type moves.

Now that he thought of it, the only Pokemon Oshawott was well-matched against was Tepig. That wouldn't do, he needed a counter for Electric and Grass types.

"Go, Poliwag!" Hugh sent out Poliwag, who gave a cute cry that withheld his nature. "Time for a rematch." Ash sent out Oshawott, who looked around for a potential enemy before setting his eyes on Poliwag.

'This guy again.' Oshawott thought to himself. The Poliwag that had caused him so much turmoil and would no doubt cause him more down the road. He was one up against him so far, but who says what will happen today.

"Be careful Oshawott, remember he has the Water Absorb ability." Poliwag's head turned up and glared at Ash for bringing it up. That had been his one ace in the hole, hoping they would forget his ability so he could heal up. 'There goes that' Poliwag thought to himself.

Ash looked across their forest battlefield to Hugh. "Ready?" "Let's go!" Hugh responded eagerly. "Double Slap!" Hugh threw out the first move and Poliwag rushed forward. Oshawott couldn't dodge and was powerfully slapped four times across the face.

Poliwag rushed back and Oshawott looked a tad bit hurt. "You okay Oshawott?" Oshawott nodded to Ash and looked back at the snickering Poliwag with rage.

"Focus Energy!" Oshawott began the process of powering up which, in a few short days, had been shortened to only six seconds of charging. "Bubble" A small amount of bubbles shot out of Poliwag's mouth and went straight for Oshaowtt. Right before they hit, his eyes opened up and Oshawott dodged gracefully, the bubbles exploding on impact with the ground.

"Double Team!" Hugh looked on in surprise as Oshawott split himself into ten parts. He had gone up by one due to the increase in strength, but there wasn't much more he could do with the simple but very effective move.

Oshawott had forgotten what it felt like to be in a Double Team after not using it for a while. It was still very disorienting, but he could start to get used to it.

"Water Gun!" Hugh called out his move and Oshawott jumped above the soaring Water Gun. Poliwag had gotten much more skilled since he had first faced off against Oshawott and was able to fire a second one, nailing Oshawott mid-air.

The attack itself didn't do much damage to Oshawott, it was being hit midair. Unless you are a flying type, psychic type or have some way of hovering you couldn't do much to stop yourself from flying into a tree.

Oshawott hit his head hard and his eyes spun. Poliwag snickered again and started jumping back and forth in anticipation of an attack.

"Tackle!" "Pound!" Both of the trainers yelled at the same time. The Pokemon rushed towards each other and jumped into each other's blows.

Oshawott was able to predict the trajectory of Poliwag's Pound and jumped a bit lower than Poliwag expected. Poliwag was right above him and couldn't reach him. Oshawott jumped straight up into Poliwag's face and sent him soaring.

Poliwag landed and looked worn out and beaten up, but still standing. Oshawott's Focus Energy had just run out at that point and he looked tired. They looked at each other, just as determined as the start of their battle but this time weakened greatly. Their trainers knew that one attack would most likely end it all, so they had to make it count.

"Water Gun!" Poliwag built-up water, a bit slower now that he was tired out. "Tackle!" Ash saw the opening left by that and took it. Oshawott sluggishly walked over to Poliwag and put all of his energy he had left into the one attack.

Water Gun struck first, hitting Oshawott with high power. He was still used to the water, but it still weakened him. Oshawott knew he couldn't let Poliwag win and trucked through the light Water Gun. He got close enough to use Tackle, throwing Poliwag back.

Upon hitting Poliwag, he fell over, swirls covering his eyes showing that he had fainted. Poliwag hit a tree stump and also fell over, defeated.

"Looks like it's still one to nothing," Ash said to Hugh with a smile. He grinned back at Ash at the statement. "Maybe between those two, but it's about to be tied up between us."

Hugh had a confident look on his face as he released Tepig, who blew out embers from his snout. The fire looked hotter and much more deadly, making Ash a bit nervous. Jolt's fur was susceptible to fire and burned pretty easily. He hoped that Tepig didn't have many good fire attacks and sent out Jolt.

Hugh grinned, "I almost forgot you had her!" Tepig looked at Jolt like she was an inferior species compared to him. Jolt growled at his cockiness and was ready to wipe that horrible smirk off of his face.

This time, Ash decided to make the first move. "Double Team!" Ash shouted to the Mareep. She nodded and created many duplicates of herself surrounding Tepig. She had gotten Double Team down by now and it showed that Oshawott still had a long time until it was perfected.

"Do you have a TM or something?" Hugh asked Ash, his eyebrows raised and eyes wide. "Something like that."

Hugh shrugged with a jealous look and told Tepig to use Ember on the clones until he scored a hit. "Cotton Spore!" By the time the real Jolt had used Cotton Spore over half of her copies were gone due to Tepig's unusually fast Embers.

It didn't mean the move did less damage though. The Tepig line was always the slowest of the starters from Unova's evolution lines, and with his speed lowered due to the spore, he wouldn't be able to easily dodge Jolt's attacks.

"Thunder Shock" Tepig had no possible way to dodge the move but knew he could take at least one. Hugh knew he could too and let Tepig take the hit.

"Ember!" Shooting fire out of his nostrils, Tepig took the Thunder Shock and was looking a bit worn out from using a move as he was hit.

Jolt didn't look any better, having to roll in the muddy field to get rid of the fire that had burned a big of her precious wool. She turned and growled at Tepig, who nervously laughed in response. Nobody touched her wool, not without her permission.

She barely heard Ash's command, knowing what he was going to say before he said it. She sent out her most powerful Thunder Shock she had every produced and let it all out at Tepig. Tepig tried to scramble out of the way but was stopped by the sticky spores he still hadn't gotten rid of. The attack hit him head-on and his brains were nearly fried.

Jolt let out deep, unsteady breaths after seeing her attack. That was close to a Thunderbolt, not a Thunder Shock like she had been usually producing. She would have to train to perfect that later, but right now she had to focus on the battle.

Tepig was able to withstand that one somehow and got up. His body heat raised up to two times its usual level and large flames came out of his snout.

"Blaze," Hugh whispered to himself. He hadn't ever gotten into a situation where it would be useful, but he knew how it worked. When Tepig was weakened heavily in a battle, his inner flame would spike and give him high powers he hadn't experienced before.

Hugh saw the chance to win and knew he had to take it. "Use Ember!" Jolt felt Tepig's eyes look at her as if they had a heat of their own and shivered. Why couldn't Oshawott take this battle when he had the type advantage? Maybe it was good to get experience against fire types but not ones with Blaze!

Now she had to focus on the flames coming towards her. She heard Ash tell her to dodge, but she was already doing that, jumping over some flames and getting minor burns along the way. There was no way she could dodge them all though, and her wool got singed.

The fire was more powerful now too, so her body was not shielded by her wool, something he hadn't had to experience in a while. It wasn't pleasant, to say the least.

Ash needed to do something about that fired up Tepig, and he had just the move. "Thunder Wave!" He yelled out to Jolt. She cursed herself for not thinking of that and let out a line of static electricity. It went around the Embers and hit Tepig, who felt the effects immediately.

Tepig looked around in a blind panic. He couldn't lose, he never lost! He had never lost, and he prided himself in that, so he wouldn't lose to a mere Mareep!

He looked around in anger for Jolt and electricity pulsed through him once more. That was all it took for Tepig to keel over, officially out of the battle.

Hugh looked at the battlefield in resignation. He returned Tepig to his Pokeball, muttering his thanks to the ball. Ash did the same but thanked Jolt when she was outside of the Pokeball. She gave a light cry as he returned her to his Pokeball.

"That was a good battle, Ash." Hugh stuck his hand out, a sign of respect to Ash. Ash took the hand and gave a firm shake for Hugh. It was a close battle, the closest battle he had fought so far. He was stronger than Cheren's team he faced, he knew that.

Hugh grinned at him, "I'm not too mad you beat me. It'll give Tepig a reality check."

Ash was glad that the cocky Tepig would finally come down to Earth and be nice to the people and Pokemon around him.

Hugh looked at Ash in wonder and asked, "Where did you get a TM?" Ash looked around for people that could be listening in on him and slowly spoke, "The Plasma base. It was just laying there like they didn't care for it."

It was surprising enough to know that Ash had a TM already but from a Plasma base? It showed that Team Plasma had enough money to be able to access TMs at will, a scary development.

"Have you ever told anyone?" Ash shook his head. If he told anyone, he would most likely have to return the TM, and he would rather keep it.

Ash zipped his bag open and got out the TM case Alder put in his bag only half a week ago. He opened it and saw two discs, reminding him of the TM that Cheren gave him after their battle. "A second one? What is that one?" Hugh asked in amazement.

"It's Work Up, a move that makes your attack and special attack higher." Hugh looked confused by something Ash said, and Ash gave him a look that told him to ask away. "Attack and special attack are two different things?"

Ash looked exasperated at his dumb question. What trainer didn't know about the types of attacks? "Attack is a move that is physical, special attack is a ranged move where the Pokemon usually doesn't directly touch the target."

"What are you, a living Pokedex?" Ash burst out laughing at the joke, and the semi-tense atmosphere from the intense battle was lifted and they were back to being best friends.

Hugh was honestly Ash's best friend he ever had. Gary was a jerk to him ut he was a close second or third with Rosa. he still thought of Gary every now and then and wondered what he was doing nowadays. He hadn't heard anything from Kanto in a while and his mother tried to avoid the news about it, so he wondered if everything was fine there.

Ash bid Hugh goodbye and set off on the thirty more minutes it would take to walk to Floccesy.

He was a bit annoyed that he had to spend a bit of time at the Pokemon Center and heal his Pokemon up after the battle, but he knew it was a great experience and it was the first battle that Oshawott had fainted in.

He knew that would hit Oshawott pretty hard, having been a leader and most likely never been in the position to faint because of his strength. He didn't think Jolt was hurt by the fact she couldn't beat Cheren's Lillipup because she had defeated the Patrat.

He walked alone for a while before seeing the crowds of trainers who always gathered at the end of the route.

He had respect from them after they saw him with a Mareep and Oshawott the day before and they left him alone. He nodded to them in appreciation and entered the gate to go back to Floccesy.

The first thing he saw as he walked through was the beaten-down gym. Benga hadn't turned up in a while, and Ash hoped he was okay after the apparent encounter with the Swords of Justice.

Ash didn't think he had ever run into a legendary and was relieved by that. He never wanted to experience the sheer power that they were notorious for.

From Alder's account of Benga, they weren't to be messed with. The beaten-down gym was just an unnerving reminder of that.

He passed it by without a second thought and saw the Pokemon Center. He entered and saw Rosa in the lobby, playing with her Snivy, Pidove, Purrloin and a Psyduck. He guessed she had been to Floccesy Ranch after it opened back up last night and caught the little guy.

"Hey, Rosa!" Rosa looked up, recognizing the voice as Ash's. "Hey, Ash! What are you doing here?" She asked harmlessly. Ash shrugged and answered, "I got the Basic Badge and I'm about to go to Virbank. I see you have a Purrloin and Psyduck."

Purrloin purred and Psyduck gave a light quack in response and nuzzled into Rosa. She laughed, "I got Purrloin a few days ago on Route 19 and Psyduck in Floccesy Ranch. That reminds me," She got up and slapped Ash in the back of the head, and he moaned with pain. "What was that for?" He asked.

"Do you know how scared I was when I heard you raided a Plasma Base by yourself?"

Ash had no clue news got out that fast. He assumed the league would try to hide the fact that Plasma was back from the public, but it looked like they were telling everyone.

Ash looked down at his shoes in shame. "Sorry, Rosa." Rosa giggled and shook her head. "It's fine Ash, now how did you get the Basic Badge already?" Ash told her the story of the gym battle with Cheren. He also pointed out what to watch out for on his team, like his feral Lilipup, which made chills go down Rosa's spine.

"It doesn't seem very professional to use a Pokemon like that against a beginner," Ash just shrugged as she continued, "Thanks for telling me, Ash!" Ash gave her one of his signature grins and shrugged like it was no problem. He remembered why he was at the Pokemon Center in the first place and walked up to the counter and checked his Pokemon in.

He walked back tor Rosa who went back to playing around with her Pokemon. Psyduck seemed very smart and cynical as he just sat in Rosa's lap staring off into space. Snivy was as friendly and happy as ever, playing around with the mischevious Purrloin.

When trained right they were good Pokemon, but they were still Dark types and would always be trouble. Pidove just sat on a perch and chatted with the two, perfectly comfortable in the position she was in.

Ash was glad he only had two Pokemon so far. Any more than that and he would have trouble controlling their antics. Later in his journey, he would be happy to have more Pokemon that he could control. He always dreamed of having a Psuedo-Legendary Pokemon, but he wasn't too sure he would ever get the privilege of training one. Only time would tell.

He spaced out in deep thought for a few more minutes until he heard his name loud and clear through the speakers in the Pokemon Center. He walked back up to the counter and grabbed his Pokeballs, thanking Nurse Joy as he always did before walking out.

He walked by Alder's house and thought about how he wouldn't see this house for a very long time. He decided to go knock and see the inside of his house for what might be the last time but Alder opened the door first.

There was a girl with light yellow hair and glasses that looked to be around sixteen years old. She was talking with Alder, who boomed with laughter at whatever she said. He saw Ash standing there like a deer in headlights and gave him a wave.

"Ash, my boy! How are you doing?" The girl there looked like she was out of place and she held a briefcase in her hands. "Pretty good, Alder." Alder noticed the two looking at each other in curiosity and decided to introduce the two. "Ash, this is Bianca. Bianca, this is Ash."

Bianca gave a smile and Ash smiled back respectfully. He didn't know who she was, but if she was important enough to be talking with Alder in person, then at least he could be civil with her. "She traveled with Hilbert and Cheren."

Hilbert. She traveled with Hilbert, the savior of the region who had ridden one of the legendary Pokemon off into the distance after defeating Team Plasma, never to be seen again. At least that was the legend of what happened. Very few people knew what had actually happened, including Bianca and Cheren.

"Woah!" Ash said in marvel. Bianca gave a smile and sighed in exasperation. "It's all people see me as." Ash thought how much it would be an honor and could have sucked afterward. He knew if he traveled with Hilbert he would be known as his protege, not as Ash Ketchum.

Alder looked into the bag and looked back at Ash. "Bianca's developing a TM that focuses its power on your friendship with your Pokemon." Ash had heard Pokemon could evolve through friendship, like Riolu and Golbat, but not a move that had power determined by your friendship.

"She called it Return. Only a few copies are going around right now," Alder pulled out a TM in a case that had the number 27 printed on it, "And -want you to have one." Ash looked up to Alder to see if he was joking. He wasn't.

Why was Alder spoiling him so much, he already was given his bag and, of course, Oshawott. "So are you just gonna stand there or are you gonna take it?" Ash reached out to grab the TM, but Alder pulled away for a second and told him, "Remember, this is a one time use TM in its current state. Us it wisely." Ash nodded obediently and Alder put the TM in Ash's hands.

Ash took out his TM case and put Return in the spot behind Work Up. He had three spots left, having taken up half of the six given to him. If he was going to be getting TMs at the rate he was, he would need a few more. He doubted any more TMs would fall into his hands without him having to spend any money, so he wasn't worried for the time being.

He had spent far too much time today on just talking with others, so he said his goodbyes to Alder and the newly met Bianca and left for the gate to Route 20.

It looked the same as the time he had been here days ago. Peaceful, flourishing and beautiful. It wasn't too big, but it was what the beginner trainers needed for variety in their Pokemon.

A mile or two down it wasn't the same at all. The bottom of the route was a dangerous place guarded by the league's lower members. They were still Ace Trainers though, and could easily beat most trainers without any effort whatsoever.

There were many reasons it needed to be well guarded, like the gangs of Liepard and Watchdog. The real reason was because it was one of the only places you could catch a Venipede, who evolved into the fearsome Scolipede.

Scolipede were a territorial species of Pokemon that ruled over the lower half. The only Pokemon they got along with were the Dunsparce and Audino, mainly because they were either peaceful and not good to eat or could heal you in a pinch.

Audino were usually in Scolipede clans. The clans had a brutal hierarchy, where the weakest would be killed in favor of stronger ones. A few researchers had made their way into the hierarchy and were able to conduct studies, but at least half of them were killed for being too reckless with the easy to anger Scolipede.

Some could ever take out some of the Ace Trainer's Pokemon if given the right circumstances.

They had to set up the guardian because of incidents where Scolipede attacked Floccesy Town, and sometimes even as far as Aspertia.

That just made Ash want to catch a Venipede even more. He had never planned to have one on his team, although he didn't plan to have an Oshawott or a Mareep either. Fate works in strange ways.

He was starting to realize how flawed his plan to conquer Unova was. He was only planning on having six Pokemon total, but he now realized he would need a lot more than that. If he had a single team, he would be very predictable and have no way to switch things up on opponents.

Even the Pokemon he wanted were flawed. He was indifferent to the starter he got because all of them were useful in their ways, whether it was Serperior's speed, Emboar's strength or Samurott's accuracy.

He wanted a Riolu, but he now knew that only the ones who were worthy could find the clan's home. He saw it on the way to the police station from Floccesy Ranch, but that was after he had defeated Team Plasma. There was no way it would be that visible to people from the outside, so he guessed he did something that would make them consider him worthy.

The others he wanted were Pokemon you could only get if you went off of the Aspertia gym route that had been set up. He was going to follow it roughly, but not to the exact towns and gyms like some had. It changed a bit because of Benga's sudden disappearance and now had no solid final gym to go to because of Brycen ditching the gym to film his movies.

Speaking of those movies, Ash remembered that Virbank City had Pokestar Studios outside of it. He also remembered that he still had to go to Virbank in the first place and go through the treacherous part of Route 20 to make it. He put those thoughts aside and set off on his way to the dreaded staircase.

This time Ash was going through, he saw much Sewaddle hiding in the grass. A few days ago he would have caught one of them, but he was comfortable with his team for the time being. He had coverage on a lot of types and could beat most trainers at this point.

He walked through Route 20 on his own and didn't see many trainers out. He assumed that most of them took the faster route that had more Pokemon usually, the way he took to get to Floccesy Ranch.

He came across a sign that said, "DANGER!" It didn't scare him all that much because he had heard many stories about the danger, but it did make him more alert.

He came across a field of rocks and right by it, the Ace Trainer he guessed was stationed here. His gaze snapped to Ash as he walked up.

"Show me your badge case." It sounded extremely demanding, but it was necessary to scare off anyone trying to forge badges so they could get to Virbank. He opened one of the pouches of his backpack and took out the Basic Badge.

It was the first Basic Badge Cheren had given out, so the guard was wary of the legitimacy. He shone his flashlight on the other side of it that not many paid much attention to and gained a surprised look on his face.

"Go sit over there son." He pointed to the rocks he had seen earlier and Ash went over to take a seat.

The trainer got on the phone with someone, talking about something Ash couldn't decipher. After a minute of talking, the man turned off his phone and walked over to Ash.

"Sorry for being so paranoid. I'm sure you know that you have the first Basic Badge from Aspertia," Ash nodded, honored to hear it again, "Loads of newbies have tried to scam their way in without knowing what's down there." Ash and Hugh had debated doing it once but decided against it due to Alder's warnings.

"I hope you are ready for the trip." The Ace Trainer smiled at Ash, but he didn't know if it was friendliness or nervousness. "You'll determine if we can leave the route as it is." Ash didn't know he was one of the first from Aspertia or Floccesy to go through the route, but it made sense because Benga's gym had been closed down for a while and Cheren's had just opened up. "Good luck."

"Thank you, sir." Ash looked back to where Floccesy Town would be if not for the trees and mild hills and passed the trainer.

It felt like a horror movie he had once watched where it felt like every step he took was a rick in and of itself. The stairs he walked down were carved into the hill he was walking down and the only entrance to the route unless you were brave enough to scale a waterfall. Only experienced trainers could scale one, so they left it open to the public.

Even the grass looked darker down here, but that might just be night approaching. He had been out for a while and took up a lot of the day talking or battling with others, like Hugh.

Ash decided it would be best to have his Pokemon out just in case of a surprise attack from the surprisingly tactical Pokemon that roamed down there. Oshawott and Jolt came out and looked around, understanding where they were from Ash's descriptions.

The two looked for a threat before Ash told them what was happening. "We're down on Route 20. I'm gonna need your protection down here, can I trust you?" Oshawott gave a confident cry and Jolt sent sparks through her fur threateningly to any Pokemon stalking them right now. "Good."

They walked a little bit further before they found a little creek to settle down at for the night. It was out in the open, which was a blessing in disguise. Wild Pokemon could see them easily, but unlike if they were in a forest setting, they could see them too. They also could make a fire that would be visible to most Pokemon. Bug Pokemon didn't like fire too much, so the ruling Scolipede wouldn't draw close to them.

After setting up the camp as they had on Route 19, Ash turned to them and said, "Now's a good chance to train." He gave them instructions on what to train for.

Ash had seen Jolt's powerful Thunder Shock against Hugh and decided to work on perfecting that. She would bee trying to destroy at least three trees by the end of the night with only Thunder Shock, a hard task to accomplish for a beginner.

The combo of Focus Energy and Water Pulse was a move that could even make Pokemon that resisted water nervous. He was able to control it very well, and along with knowing the points where he could have a higher chance of confusing, it made for a devastating move.

He wasn't too sure how to train those moves, by he would work his hardest to improve his Pokemon's skills. He knew they could pull through it enough effort was put in. The two had even used the moves at one point, so it shouldn't be too hard.

Oshawott was currently practicing channeling his innermost instincts and channeling them into the ball of water that was currently forming. He had a bit of trouble multitasking like that at the beginning of his self-employed training but was slowly getting the hang of it.

When Ash was walking up, Oshawott's hands were radiating bright yellow energy and it was transferred to the ball of light blue water. The energy slowly grew smaller and smaller until it was morphed into a tiny sphere. The sphere entered the ball of water and the water glowed for a second. Ash thought he had witnessed Oshawott master the move but a second later the water exploded and sprayed him down.

Oshawott shook his head, annoyed, and opened his eyes to see an angry Ash glaring at him. He gave an embarrassed smile and gave a light laugh in an attempt to lighten the situation.

It didn't work well.

A few minutes later, Ash left the scene, laughing at Oshawott stuck in a tree. He had to recall him and then release him again on top of the tree. How's that for training!

Jolt was using Thunder Shock on a wavering puddle that was half mud and then jumping into it in hope of getting a little boost in electricity. All she got, in the end, was charred wool and a bad attitude towards the rest of her training.

She heard a laugh and looked up in anger at whoever was laughing at her failed training methods. What she saw was a ten-year-old boy on his knees, laughing his heart out. The boy also went by the name of Ash.

A light Thunder Shock was all it took for Ash to stop laughing and give a frown. "You can't say it wasn't funny." Though she hated it, she irritably agreed with his comment. If it was not her, she would have laughed her heart out.

But it was her, and she gave Ash another moderate shock.

Ash brushed his hair that was now spikier than usual. Both of his Pokemon were hard at work with their training and invigorated by the thought of being in a nice Pokemon Center with great food as Ash had promised. He was just ready to get to bed, darkness falling over his dimly lit makeshift campsite.

The two Pokemon noticed the change in the sky and made their way back to the campsite that Ash had made sure they knew their way to in case of tragedy.

Oshawott felt the terrifyingly familiar feeling of eyes staring at his from the shadows but didn't see anything in the bushes.

He assumed it was just the nocturnal Purrloin that were known to roam up above the portion they were on, but those were just from his experience and he had no clue what roamed down in these parts.

The two made it back, Jolt getting there first because she didn't have to go too far to train. Oshawott had to go to the river, thus had to travel a further distance to make it back. It wasn't a big deal, only a few minutes of difference.

They both showed Ash their progress. It wasn't too much, just Oshawott being able to control his water much more easily when using Focus Energy and Jolt was able to make most low-level water Pokemon faint on impact with her Thunder Shocks, which was tested on angry Basculin of course.

It was getting late, so Ash made himself a late dinner that consisted of some bars of granola that filled him right up and was easy to afford, perfect for someone like him going on a long adventure.

He gave his Pokemon the standard Pokemon food with some berries, that he made sure weren't poisonous, mixed in. They loved it and scarfed it down in less than a minute, record time for the two Pokemon who were hungry from training hard.

Ash got into his Caterpie themed sleeping bag that he still had from Kanto. His Pokemon were about to explode in laughter at the ridiculous look of him crammed inside of the tiny, child-sized sleeping bag until he gave them a look that said, "Laugh and you sleep in the Pokeball."

That was the one thing that they didn't want at all and they curled up under a blanket Ash had provided without a second word.

Pidove chirped as the sun rose above the sleeping figure's heads. Ash awoke to find a group of Sewaddle wandering around his stuff, including him. "Hey!" And just like that, the group was sent scurrying off into the forest.

His loud shout woke up two other Pokemon, though. Oshawott slowly opened his eyes, expecting the luxury of a Pokemon Center or maybe even Ash's own bed, but to his dismay, he was under a fabric blanket next to a Mareep that had a problem with electrocuting things around her when surprised.

In less than a few seconds, Oshawott and the blanket were singed with an electric shock coming from Jolt, who got onto her feet and looked at Ash in annoyance.

Oshawott sent a Water Gun towards her that was intended to send her tumbling down a hill, not hurt. The practice of his aim from yesterday turned out to be helpful because he sent her down the hill right into a puddle mostly made of mud.

Jolt shot up in fear and shock and, without even thinking once of what had sent her into the mud puddle, jumped into the river to get rid of the sticky swamp in her wool. It turned out to be a pretty flawed plan because some Basculin that she had been testing her Thunder Shock on from the day prior were looking at her like she was breakfast.

Her wool clean and wet, she jumped out of the water with grace as the Basculin watched. Those same Basculin soon wish they hadn't watched because Jolt sent a Thunder Wave into the water, rippling across the surface and striking the awe-struck Basculin and sent them back underwater.

She landed on the shore, walked up the hill and stood in front of Oshawott. The two glared at each other, one soaking and the other charred from the incident earlier.

"Would you two calm down for a minute?" Ash called from the campsite, where he was occupied packing things up. Jolt and Oshawott looked at each other sheepishly and went to help Ash.

They were ready to head off into the deeper parts of the route after a few minutes of packing. Ash wasn't too sure how everything fit into his bag, but he wouldn't complain and take what he was given.

Around a mile down, Ash came across the first Venipede he had seen. The red bug turned to him and was prepared to have an early meal before Oshawott and Jolt leaped in front of him and sending a message not to mess with them. The Venipede hissed and stalked back into the forest.

Ash even saw a trainer around an hour later. He was a nice man who was aiming to get rid of a dangerously powerful Scolipede that roamed the area and had even tried to invade Virbank City at one point. It took Roxie's Scolipede from her main team to take it down, and even then it was a close fight. A threat like that shouldn't be on the loose around towns like Floccesy and even the tourists from Virbank.

He said his name was Colress and was a scientist who aspired to learn how to control any Pokemon. It was an odd goal, but one that could be completed legally, so he didn't question him. Ash hoped he would be able to see him later on and he wished him luck on his studies.

Ash saw the final hill off in the distance and was motivated to reach it by the end of the day. "Look! It's the mountain!" Jolt and Oshawott cheered at the significant landmark in their journey through the dangerous route.

He came across a rare wild Audino that didn't belong to any Scolipede, Liepard or Watchdog clan as it seemed. The Audino looked hurt badly and poisoned. He wasn't one for watching Pokemon die in front of his eyes, so he gave her one of the many antidotes he was supplied with by Alder.

The Audino got up and bowed in thanks before tensing up, sensing that Ash wanted to catch it. "I'm not gonna catch you." Ash wasn't looking to catch anything like an Audino for support night now, so he let it go run off into the distance.

The walk alone was tough for Ash. He only had his Pokemon to chat with, and they could barely communicate with him other than expressions and tone of voice.

He had grown up always having someone to talk to. He hated to admit it, but he even would have taken someone like Gary at this point just so he could have someone he could have a solid talk with.

The low forest was a silent and scary place to be in. You could never know what was around you, and if there was a Scolipede just around the corner or a group of Liepard subtly cornering you as you travel. It made Ash paranoid, but he believed in his Pokemon's strength and trucked on.

It was odd he hadn't seen any Whirlipede or Scolipede so far, and only a few Venipede here and there. He had heard they were very common around these parts. Maybe Colress's operation worked a little too well and he accidentally got rid of all of the surrounding Venipede.

That thought left his head real quick as a horde of Venipede with numbers easily in the hundreds scurried past him, a few even taking the chance to hiss at him. Oshawott and Jolt were in front, ready to protect him at any time.

The odd thing was that none of them even tried to attack them. The hisses were empty threats because, if they wanted to, they could easily outnumber him and eat him alive. Either they were in a good mood or something important was going on within the ranks of the Scolipede led clans. Ash was willing to bet that the latter was the case and he decided to take a peek at what was happening behind the thick leaves of the forest despite his best judgment

The Venipede trucked through anything, and the wild Pokemon in the area started to leave as if this was something that had happened before. Ash got out his Pokedex and used the recording feature on it to try and preserve what was happening and possibly use it for research.

It was something that only a veteran should participate in, but he couldn't help himself. He was just too curious.

His Pokemon were very curious also. In Oshawott's group, things like this only happened if someone else was promoted to the leader, which he never had to experience. Jolt had seen something of this magnitude only once when she was invited to see the Elder Lucario in their clan promote someone else to elder.

They both concluded that it had something to do with the ranks inside of the Scolipede and wanted to see what they were like in their groups. They could die at any time if one of the Scolipede snapped in anger, but they wanted to know what was going on, so they followed.

The Venipede gave them weird looks as they passed, but ignored them as if they were any wild Pokemon. It was like they were just any other Pokemon to them. Food was food to them, and Ash wasn't sure how to feel about that.

He continued on their trail as they neared the river. He wasn't soo sure why they were going to the river, but he wouldn't question a Pokemon's behavior when he really knew nothing about them. For all he knows, they could be judging him for standing on two legs and not having powers other than intelligence.

The large group of Venipede reached the river and were facing a small island that had an interior shielded by thick trees and shrubbery. They looked at the island like they were about to jump in and swim.

He didn't think that they would be able to do it for a few reasons. One of them was because it was an island, not just some obscure area of the mainland. They shouldn't be able to get over there by conventional means.

He was proven wrong by the Venipede straightening their antennas and linking together to make a chain that other Venipede walked down to get to the island. It was a great plan that needed a lot of planning and nobody failing in their own job to work, again making Ash wonder if they had done something like this before.

The second problem with their plan was the fact that there were numerous murderous Basculin that roamed the waters around Unova. The Basculin would probably take advantage of the situation and get an early meal, destroying the Venipede's numbers.

That theory was destroyed when he saw the Basculin not only letting them live but even helping some stragglers that had slipped and fallen in the water to the island.

The final point he had to prove was that the combined weight of them would be far too much for them to continue the chain. They also had nothing to truly grip onto, so they would slip fast and get carried downstream.

Instead of breaking the chain after the other Venipede passed through they let go of the chain closest to them and let the Venipede on the other side grab on and carry them onto the shore.

That begged the question, how would Ash make it to the shore now? The Basculin had left for a moment to go help a different Venipede chain that he saw further down the river, so he figured that now was the only chance he had to make it across.

He returned Jolt, who went without complaints after hearing that Ash was going across the river. He kept Oshawott out, using him as defense just in case anything went wrong with his plan. Oshawott wasn't too sure why he was going to follow the Venipede across an entire river, but he went along with the plan.

The river had raging rapids that looked deep and dangerous at first look. The water sped by Ash as he walked down the path to the island. It was not far at all in the grand scheme of things, but the pain he felt as he walked made it feel like a mile.

Rocks were bashing against his leg and scraping his midsection of they got high enough. Ash could barely even stand in the depths of the river, and he was pretty sure, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the other group of Venipede all make their way across and the Basculin turn their attention to him.

Of course, Oshawott was with him the whole time, ready to help if he slipped downstream. The otter Pokemon was using his webbed feet to speed around the water and diverge the current ever so slightly away from Ash.

The carnivorous Basculin turned their gaze to him and were ready to have something to eat. He was the perfect option, in the water and nearly helpless other than the pesky Oshawott that swam around him. They moved in strategically yet they wanted to one-up each other so that they would get more of the meat.

Ash saw this too and realized he was only about halfway there. He had to pick up his speed a lot if he ever wanted to make it alive.

His feet let go of the rocks that stabilized him and he opted to swim to the island, the current slowly pushing him further as he did. Oshawott had his back the whole time, blasting the Basculin back as Oshawott swam after Ash.

They were relentless, though, constantly swimming back with more vigor than ever. They wanted this food and would do nearly anything to get it. They closed in on Oshawott, who was getting surrounded ever so slowly by the predators of the water.

Ash was also getting really close to shore and decided it was time for Oshawott to go back into his Pokeball. A red beam of light shot at Oshawott just as the Basculin opened their jaws to shows their jagged teeth that would have pierced Oshawott if he had recalled him a second later.

The Basculin, angry that their meal had been taken from right under their nose, turned their heads to the human with a big enough ego to withhold food from them. Ash whimpered and frantically clawed at the shore of the island, lined with rocks and grass.

The water morphed around the Basculin that rushed Ash with nothing but destruction on their minds as Ash got enough of a grip to start pulling himself up.

The Basculin sped up their approach, aiming to kill as they opened their wide jaws. Ash finally pulled himself up the steep shore and watched as the dozens of Basculin jumped out of the water, snapping their jaws in a desperate attempt for food.

He released his two Pokemon, who jumped on him in happiness of him being alive after the stunt. "Jolt, Thunder Shock on the Basculin." The water glowed bright yellow for a second before bubbles came up from the Basculin speeding off from the presence of an electric type.

Ash took a deep breath in and sighed in relief. He was finally to this island, and it had better be worth it. If he nearly died just to come here and die to a poisonous Scolipede that would rather not have his privacy invaded he would be in a bad mood going into the afterlife.

The thick bushes posed to be more of a problem than he had expected, but he managed to pull through with only minor scratches in the end. The island was a lot longer than he had expected, so he must have got in on the short side.

When he burst through the bushes, he was met with an impossibly possible sight. Not one, but two shiny Scolipede stood at the top of a large hill, with Whirlipede on the left and right of the two and more regularly-colored Scolipede behind them. Hundreds of Venipede were on the bottom of the hill, just marveling at the sight of the two. Audino was also on the sides, but there was one he somewhat recognized standing at the top with the two.

Then, the worst possible thing that could have happened, happened. The two powerful looking Scolipede locked eyes with him and glared at his mere presence. The rest of the pack found where the two leaders were looking, and looked ready to get rid of the pest entering on their ceremony.

It all came to a halt when the Audino at the top of the hill gave a loud cry that the clan recognized as a command to stand down.

Ash stood very still as the Audino came up to him and inspected him, sniffing and looking him all over until his back was sore. After a few more minutes of this, the Audino pointed down to her chest where he saw a few purple dots. Just like the ones left over when an antidote was used on a Pokemon.

It hit him in less than a second that this was the Audino that he had saved and nursed back to health earlier before deciding to let her back into the wild. He thought she wasn't part of a clan because she was alone, but maybe she was just lost.

His theory was kind of confirmed when Audino started to make hand signs, pointing to the other Scolipede and making facial expressions to try and explain what had happened to her.

Ash tried to repeat what she motioned, "So a Scolipede poisoned you and I nursed you back to health and, if I wasn't there, you might have died?" Audino profusely nodded her head to show that Ash was correct in his assumption.

Ash saw that he was right, and took in what that meant for him. He was safe from the Scolipede now because had done what he assumed was the leader of the Audino a huge favor by keeping her alive.

There wasn't much danger on the route now aside from rogue Scolipede and the occasional gang of Liepard or Watchdog.

Audino skipped back up the hill and invited Ash and his Pokemon to come with her. She set him beside the other regular Scolipede, who nodded to him, Oshawott and Jolt in respect. Oshawott nodded back to them and Jolt jumped up and down in happiness.

Things quieted down in the area a lot as Audino came out from the trees with a crown made of flowers. It was visible that it was made carefully and meant a lot to the tribe.

All was silent in the forest and on the island as she put the flower crown on top of the larger and older-looking Scolipede. The two shiny Scolipede looked to each other in respect and recognition, and the elder Scolipede slid the crown onto the younger one's head.

Hisses from the Venipede and low cries from the Whirlipede and Scolipede brought the area out fo silence, and Ash and his gang looked in front of them in shock. Was that the crowning of a new ruler of the Scolipede, because if so, he was one of the luckiest people on the planet for being able to see that first hand.

Ash's eyes widened as he realized he had forgotten to record the whole event. He shrugged and decided it was best left unheard of and kept a secret between him and the Scolipede clan.

After a while of the after-party, they started to pile off of the island and things got quiet yet again. This time though, he wasn't scared of it and found it rather comforting instead.

"You're really lucky you got to see that, y' know?" Ash jumped at the sound of a human voice he had been missing since Colress left. He turned around to see a punk-looking teen girl walking up to him with a Scolipede behind her.

He flinched at the sight of the monster, but she just laughed it off. "No need to be so jumpy dude!" Ash thought that she sounded familiar and he had seen her somewhere before. It hit him that he was looking at the poison type gym leader of Virbank City, Roxie.

She looked nearly the same as he had seen in pictures, just a little more ragged from being in the firest a bit. He was sure he looked even worse, so he didn't comment on it. "You're Roxie!"

She grinned at his excited tone of voice, "You bet I am Kid!" Roxie laughed and Ash laughed back, the first time he had laughed since today's morning when his two Pokemon scuffled.

Roxie took a good look at him and looked to her Scolipede, who nodded to her as if they had a telepathic link. "What's your name kid?" Ash looked her in the eyes at her question. "Ash, Ash Ketchum."

She gave an amused smirk at his determination. "Okay Ash Ketchum, what you just saw is highly confidential. You can't tell anyone about that, even the league." Ash got the message if they knew they would send someone to fix it. It made him wonder who sent Colress if the league had no clue the Scolipede had a clan around here. "I understand."

Roxie lost her stern look and grinned at him once again. "If the clan respects you, then you gotta be some kind of prodigy." Ash wasn't sure if that was true and was going to refute it but Roxie kept going, "Tell you what, if you beat my gym I'll give you a special prize."

Get his second gym and get a prize, what a deal that was for Ash. He was already planning on doing whatever it took to get that badge from Roxie, but now that he had a special prize mixed in he was more motivated than ever.

"Well, I gotta go now, Ash. Take that path right there that goes underground and links right back up to the main trail." She pointed to a hole in the ground that he assumed went under the water and he hoped to put him back on the trail somewhere close to the mountain.

Ash looked up to thank Roxie, but she was already off communicating with the shiny Scolipede that were still on the island. Walking over to the tunnel, he recalled his still shocked Pokemon and entered.

After a few minutes of walking through the underground and even seeing a Roggenrola, he found his way back to the trail. To his delight, he was at the end of the trail and he saw the steps that led him up to Virbank.

He released his two Pokemon. "Osha!" "Reep!" The two cried on release. Ash pointed to the mountain, and without a word being exchanged decided to race to the top. Ash sprinted ahead as Oshawott and Jolt ran after him quickly.

Ash got burned out before he reached the top, reminding him of his first day of adventuring and him and Hugh racing to the top of the Aspertia viewing point.

Oshawott won the race, but Jolt was right on his tail the whole time. Ash stumbled up the last few steps and his Pokemon mocked him for being last. He recalled them in annoyance and walked through the gate that got him into Virbank City.

It looked just as he had envisioned, a punk town that was filled with graffiti and somehow a low crime rate. People guess it was due to the city having more things illegal, like vandalizing and obscenely loud music at all hours, relieving people from wanting to commit other petty crimes.

Ash saw the Pokemon Center right on his left as he walked through the gate, and got in it as soon as he could. He reveled in the great feeling of air conditioning and went up to the counter.

He gave Nurse Joy his Pokeballs and he told her he would be back in the morning to grab them. She made sure the scrapes he got from the jagged rocks on his way to the island weren't infected and bandaged them up when they were found out to be clean.

She gave him a room key and sent him on his way back to the hallways filled with rooms. Unlike most rooms in Pokemon Centers, all over his walls were covered in beautiful graffiti only made possible by the laws in the city.

Roxie wasn't in town that night, so there wasn't too much disgustingly loud music playing as he went to bed, spent from the days on the road that were well worth it in his opinion.


	4. Movies

**What's up people? If you have reviewed a question and I haven't answered, it's probably because it spoiled too much of the story, such as asking if Ash will get a certain Pokemon. Also, From here on, I'm going to try my hardest to make these chapters the best they can be, and they won't come out as fast. Expect one every 1-2 weeks. Thanks for understanding.**

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Ash woke up in a room with graffiti-covered walls, reminding him of where he was. Virbank City, the city of few rules and where people respect those few rules in place. Artists can come here to show their work in any place they want and aspiring musicians or actors can come here and build up their empire. Virbank City was a place of opportunities and great wonder.

He reached down to his belt to grab his Pokeballs and nearly panicked when he found nothing there. He remembered leaving his Pokeballs with Nurse Joy the night before and going straight to bed, tired from his eventful journey.

He finally sat up and took in his surroundings. If the paint on the wall was washed off, you would be left with nothing but a boring blank slate. The beautiful murals and paintings on the wall from artists that stayed here during their trip to Virbank turned the wall from dull to a phenomenal work of art.

The only place left bare was the shower, only having a few teenagers who had written curse words on the wall in an attempt to be funny. To be fair, some people did find it laughable, but not funny.

After a steamy shower, Ash walked out into his colorful room again. There were pictures of Pokemon from his home region of Kanto, like Rapidash and Dragonite. They stretched across the wall and it looked like it had taken at least a few hours to create.

The door to his room swung open and Ash walked out, a backpack hanging down his back and his hat his mother gave him for his tenth birthday back on.

Every time he had walked into the lobby of a Pokemon Center he had seen at least one person that he had known, whether it was Rosa, Hugh or Alder. This time, there was nobody in Virbank City that would know his name, other then Roxie of course, who he was pretty sure wouldn't remember him after a few days.

Speaking of the punk rock chick, he heard people in the lobby talking about the amazing performance she had the night prior. The rooms must have been soundproofed because he hadn't heard a thing. That or he was just a heavy sleeper.

Ash had never been the best with strangers, one of the reasons he had opted out of going to the Pokemon School in favor of training with Alder. Now that he was surrounded by them, nearly all of them older than him by at least a few years, he was getting uncomfortable.

He went up to Nurse Joy, who had his Pokeballs ready when he told her his name. She gave him the red and white balls and he placed them back on his belt. People looked at him as he walked past, wondering if this was the kid rumored to have passed through the bottom of Route 20 on his own and survived the treacherous journey.

Outside of the Pokemon Center was a look that Ash didn't get the chance to take in the day before.

The streets were filled with people who looked like they were out of a movie. That might just be because Pokestar Studios was right outside of Virbank City, but it was still an odd look to take in.

The people on the streets had Pokemon at their sides, walking nearly in sync. A good amount of people here were trainers who aspired to be something else as well. It was outside of the Pokemon Center as well, not the luxury hotels in Pokestar Studios, so the trainers were much more numerous.

The streets were there for mainly design purposes, and there weren't any cars in sight. Virbank itself was a small town and there wasn't any need for cars other than moving things around that you couldn't carry easily.

Apartments lined the sides of the road, people sitting outside of them conversing about whatever they wanted to. They were bigger than the apartment he had seen in Aspertia, but still not bg enough to be considered a house. They still looked comfortable, if not a bit sketchy. That was just the Virbank look though, so Ash didn't think anything of it.

He walked forward down the road and took a look across the open land. There wasn't anything in between the road he was on and the road across from him, which confused him. He looked down to see the open seas below him with an Alomamola at the surface. He stepped back in shock and looked down to the far fall that would await him if he were to fall. It made it easy for people to get water type Pokemon, but still a risk with the poison Pokemon at the top possibly polluting the water.

He backed away from the dropoff and looked back at the gate he had come through the day before. He was pretty sure he was one of the only Aspertia or Flocessy natives to make it through there since the days of Benga.

He turned around again and began his journey to find what there was to do in this city until he was ready to battle Roxie. He was barely able to beat Cheren and even Hugh, so he was not ready for Roxie. He heard she was powerful and her main team could even match some of the Elite Four with their underhanded poison tactics.

People looked at him as he passed by, not expecting some ten-year-old kid that looked like a normal, good kid to be in Virbank. This was a place for older people who had learned their lesson in being something they weren't and now wanted to change, not for aspiring trainers. They shrugged, thinking he might just be lost of there for Pokestar Studios.

He walked down the main road that connected the two sides of the city. He looked down to see a pathway around the harbor below him with people in leather jackets down their trading something he really hoped was legal.

Continuing down the road, he saw many people with Unovan Pokemon he hadn't had the pleasure of seeing, like Sandile and Drilbur. He assumed they were trainers with ground types that had the capability of destroying the poison type gym.

Speaking of that gym, he saw the universal sign that meant there was a gym in the building it was by.

It was surrounded by the usual apartments, making Ash think that Roxie was close with the tight-knit community of Virbank. It looked like an underground bunker and he could hear deafeningly loud music protruding from the entrance to the gym. He had heard that Roxie's concerts were in the gym, but he had expected it to be in a building outside the gym, not in it. It made the gym unique at least.

He strolled up to what seemed to be an area that had wild Pokemon because of the grass he saw. He opened his Pokedex to see what it was and saw it was named the Virbank Complex.

The article he was looking at said that it had a strange abundance of electric and fire type Pokemon and was a place that trainers could battle wild Pokemon and each other in. The workers there make energy for Virbank City and surrounding areas such as Flocessy. Aspertia had their own means of making energy.

The abundance of electric and fire types surprised Ash.

The electric types could be explained with the electricity being created there and the poison types that roamed the area were explained by the high pollution in the complex, but not really the fire types. The Pokemon there were mainly Pokemon from other regions, namely Kanto with the Magnemite and Growlithe, as well as the Magby and Elekid.

Ash supposed that Virbank had those Pokemon due to the influx of tourists and colonists from the successful Kanto. Or maybe Kanto wasn't as successful nowadays, but he couldn't be too sure.

The only poison type that was usually found roaming there was Koffing, the fun-loving Pokemon he used to hang out with in the back of Oak's corral in Kanto. He missed that ranch, but he had a new one in Alder's house, so he wasn't too sad.

He didn't think he wanted to catch any of the Pokemon in the complex, but he could be swayed easily so he wasn't sure. Those Magby and Elekid looked useful in their own ways.

As he entered, he was approached by a lady in what looked to be her older thirties. "Are you planning on goin' in?" Ash looked up to what seemed to be a normal lady and decided to nod.

She shook her head and looked down. "Be careful hun, you don't know what's down there." She looked like she was reminiscing about something or someone and winced, a hurt expression plaguing her features.

"Of course ma'am." Ash didn't know what she had seen or possibly done, but she seemed wise and listened to her advice. "Thank you, son. We don't need another kid being corrupted." She shook her head and Ash realized what she was talking about.

She didn't live in Virbank for the culture, most likely because she was trying to start up an acting career that, like most, failed miserably. She now lived in bitterness at the society she had been thrown into, and Ash didn't blame her. If he was thrown here after failing as a trainer and having to fend for himself, he would want others to not follow the path of those he hated.

He threw those thoughts away and thanked the lady, who waved to him before going to the large house behind him. It must have been the only house in Virbank, the vibrant colors clashing with the dull look of Virbank during the day.

The Virbank Complex was disgusting yet strangely beautiful. The pollution had hit the grass and had even made it so that there was only a single tree in the area. It looked like it was protected well and didn't have many troubles in front of it. The beauty of it came from the types of Pokemon he could see just as he walked in. The Magby and Elekid scuffling in the grass and the Growlithe trying to play with the unaffected Magnemite with a Grimer right by one of the generators, wanting to get on top of it so that he could get to the poisonous smoke constantly rising from it.

"Hey! Kid!" Ash looked around for the person saying that, knowing it was most likely aimed at him. "Over here! At the tree!" He knew where that was, and looked over to it and saw a slightly overweight middle-aged man.

"Do you need anything?" He questioned the man at the tree. The man looked around the complex for a second as if he was looking for something before looking back into Ash's eyes.

"Yeah, son. I can't find my workers. Find em' and you get some cash." He pulled out a wad of cash, which appealed to Ash's interests at the moment. It also gave him a chance to get some good training in, so he shook the man's hand that didn't have the money and wet out to find the rampant workers.

The complex was bigger than he had imagined. Instead of there being a single area, there were multiple. One had all of the generators, one with light grass that you would usually see on a route, and one that looked blocked off that was darker, like the grass he had seen on his way to Virbank.

"Oshawott!" "Reep!" His two Pokemon cried upon being released, catching the attention fo a young trainer standing in front of him. The youngster walked up to him and grabbed the Pokeball on his belt and threw it up and down. "Let's battle. I win, I get that Oshawott of yours. You win, you get my Pokemon."

It was a stupid plan. Get someone to agree to it and then beat them. But Ash knew how effective it was. If he was defeated, he could just order his Pokemon to attack if he refused to give up his Pokemon. He now saw what the woman at the entrance was talking about. "Yeah, sure."

Oshawott gave a devilish smirk at the youngster who faltered a bit before releasing a Lillipup. It looked completely untrained and Ash knew the kid had no clue what he was doing. "You sure you wanna battle?" The kid nearly got red with anger at his question. "Yeah!"

Oshawott stepped in front of Ash and awaited his commands to battle. Lillipup wasn't sure what to do but a kick from the horrible young trainer got it moving. "Bite!" Lillipup moved towards the Oshawott at a fast pace, but not near as fast as Cheren's.

"Dodge and Focus Energy." Oshawott gracefully lept to the side and Lillipup went crashing into the hard ground. "Get up you stupid Pokemon!" The youngster yelled at the Lillipup, who obeyed. Ash really wanted to beat this kid now, and would easily.

"Water Pulse." The kid's eyes widened and couldn't let a word out of his mouth as Lillipup was nailed in the side of the head by an unavoidable Water Pulse, knocking it out immediately.

The kid's eyes flashed in pure rage. "How the fuck did you do that!" Ash smirked at the kid and shook his head in disappointment. "If you're gonna try and scam me out of my Pokemon, you have to be a good trainer." The kid was shaking in what Ash thought was rage.

He hadn't even returned Lillipup when he threw the Pokeball to the ground and stomped it out of existence. Lillipup watched in shock and sadness before sulking into the wilderness where they were no doubt caught recently. "Calm down, it's only a battle." Ash talked down to the kid who nearly shrank under his scrutinizing gaze.

"I should get your license revoked." The kid's eyes widened before narrowing again. "Nobody in the city has the right to other than Roxie!" Nobody, not even the police did? That didn't sound right, but he would believe it.

"Yeah, so I will." He heard a female voice behind him and heard a few gasps, including from the boy in front of him and he felt a hand clasp on his shoulder. He had remembered the voice and saw the white-haired punk chick Roxie standing there, glaring at the boy.

The boy grinned in delight at the sight of Roxie. "Roxie! Can you get this kid arrested, he was beating a Pokemon!" Ash nearly gasped in surprise. He knew Roxie wouldn't believe the kid, but the sheer nerve to beat a Pokemon, destroy it's Pokeball and then accuse him of doing it? Roxie gave a hard glare at the kid and shook her head in anger and disappointment.

"I saw the battle." The kid's eyes bugged out. He looked behind him and didn't see anyone there so he decided to try and make a run for it. He didn't get far before Ash ordered Jolt to use a light Thunder Shock, sending him to the ground. He kicked and screamed as authorities showed up. "You can't do this! His Pokemon fucking attacked me!" Roxie glowered at him in anger and he decided it would be best to quiet up now as the police of Virbank took him away to who knows where.

Roxie looked at Ash and nodded to him. "Thanks for that, I owe you one." Ash gave her a confused glance at why she was thanking him. He just did what he should have. "That kid has been scamming kids out of their Pokemon for the past week and we haven't been able to catch him in the act." Ash nodded in understanding.

"So, what are you doing around these parts?" Roxie asked a stone-faced Ash. Ash replied, "Just training."

Roxie nodded and decided to leave him to that. She exited the complex and Ash went back to his original task, finding the workers. If you went through a small patch of grass you would be able to climb a set of stairs and get onto little poles you could easily fall off of.

Ash did fall off on his first attempt to cross, and his Pokemon laughed at him from the side he was aiming to get to. 'This is gonna be a long day.'

After a few more pitiful attempts, Ash made it across. He was left with bruises and scrapes, but he came across the first worker who was looking out into the sea. He told the worker that his boss was looking for him. The worker responded that he was gonna do his work, he was just thinking of his family back home. Ash found that understandable, knowing how hard it was to be away from home.

Ash then got challenged to a battle against him. He figured that most people in the complex were looking to battle so he should have expected it.

The worker, named Mitchell, sent out a Patrat that didn't look too strong and less vicious than Cheren's. He was confident he could win and sent out Jolt to hopefully sweep him.

"Cotton Spore." It was over before it started in Ash's opinion. He slowed his Patrat down and Jolt was easily able to dodge every attack that was thrown at her and landed a few powerful Thunder Shocks that took it down. "You're good, kid. Let's see how you fare against another electric type."

His second and last Pokemon was an Elekid, whirring with electricity building upon release. Ash didn't know too much about them, so he had to go off of intuition only. "Cotton Spore." He initially tried to use the same tactic until Elekid destroyed the flying spores. 'This is gonna be harder than I thought.'

It really wasn't. All he had to do use Double Team and Elekid would be so confused that Jolt could land a Cotton Spore. It ended there with Jolt being able to land multiple Tackles. The Elekid was not as strong as he had anticipated, and it made for a boring fight. The worker thanked him for a 'great battle' and went back to his work station in the complex.

Ash trudged back up the steps to see more of the thin poles. He gave a loud groan and his Pokemon laughed at his struggles.

After a few more bruises, he met up with another one of the workers. He still had a bit of patience left and tried to reason with the worker so he didn't have to destroy him, but the worker insisted.

The worker sent out a Riolu, catching him off guard. The worker explained he came from Sinnoh, making Ash relieved that a simple complex worker didn't know of the clan of Riolu and Lucario's location. Ash sent out Oshawott in response.

The Riolu wasn't well trained if he was trained at all. The only attacking moves the Riolu knew were Quick Attack and Feint, all of which Oshawott could just space out. A few Water Pulses were all it took for the Riolu to faint.

The worker returned the Riolu and muttered his thanks before releasing a Patrat. Ash had seen enough of them in his days to know it wasn't too powerful and would be easily spaced out. This time, he wanted to test something out. He didn't tell Oshawott to use Focus Energy but to just try and aim for the Patrat's head to confuse it. Oshawott nodded and curved the Water Pulse so it could connect. Unfortunately, it flew above Patrat's head, making Ash think they still had a long way to go until Oshawott mastered water moves.

After that, Oshawott wasn't even hit as he took out the Patrat in a mere two Water Pulses. The worker shook Ash's hand in respect and complied with the boss's request to go back to his duties.

Ash looked to his left and saw more poles. He let out a loud grunt and stepped on the pole, only to fall a few feet down and land on his back. Ash winced as he got up, not looking forward to doing this again.

Bruises covering his body at this point, Ash seethed while stalking over to the worker who was staring at a wall for some reason. Ash tapped his shoulder and the worker turned around. He didn't even bother with pleasantries this time, "Go back to work or battle." The worker's dirty teeth showed as he grinned and agreed to battle.

Ash just released Jolt and nodded to her, signifying they had one more battle to win. Jolt put on a determined expression and faced her opponent who was being released. The red light dissipated to reveal another red figure, Magby.

Magmar was one of the Pokemon Ash had aspired to capture when he was in Kanto after he saw Blaine when he was in the Elite Four sweeping challengers with the beast. Magmortar was ranked as one of the most powerful non-legendary fire type Pokemon in the world, making Ash want to get another so much more.

Now, Ash wasn't sure what he wanted. He didn't want to catch any Pokemon that would just hate him and constantly want to be released, so he would try to be friends with the Pokemon he captured. It worked with Jolt, why not everyone else?

"Thunder Wave."

A single move did it for Ash. The worker panicked and told Magby to dodge, but it was far too late. Magby was paralyzed and stuck in place, suffering through the Thunder Shocks that followed. It barely took three shocks for the Magby to go down and be returned.

The worker was angry that he had been stopped so easily and muttered under his breath. Ash grinned, ready to take down another of his hopefully weak Pokemon. Another red light flashed and a purple ball with a circle and cross on it appeared. The Koffing laughed a deep laugh and faced his opponent, Jolt.

Jolt was prepared for this and had heard from Ash what poison types could do to a Pokemon if you don't tread carefully.

"Poison Gas!" The worker shouted. Koffing opened it's mouth and released a purple gas the seemed to be extremely volatile. It moved around the Thunder Shocks that Jolt threw at it and struck the Mareep with force.

She was nearly knocked over from the pain alone from being poisoned for the first time. There weren't any Pokemon in Flocessy Ranch that could reliably poison a Pokemon, so she hadn't gone through the painful experience before. It wasn't pleasant in the least.

Ash's eyes widened in alarm. He had underestimated the poison type because he hadn't sustained any damage in his previous battles today, and now Jolt was paying the price. He would have to remember this for his battle with Roxie and always have a contingency plan for poison.

For now, he would just have to go off of instinct and finish this battle fast. "Thunder Shock!" Jolt, while struggling, heard his command and unleashed a powerful ray of electricity. It struck Koffing right in the skull on the front of its circular body and he fell back in pain. It didn't take too long for Koffing to get right back up, but still looked pained and could only take a few more attacks.

"Tackle!" Mareep was too pained to dodge and was struck right in the chest by the powerful Tackle. She still had her wool to protect her a bit, but it barely saved her from the impact of the attack. Legs shaking, she got back up and prepared herself to use one last attack. "Tackle!" Ash shouted, knowing there was only one way to end this. The worker also told Koffig to use the same move again, so it was a clash of titans. Well, they weren't titans, but close enough for Ash's level.

The two Pokemon slammed into each other with unseen force and they both went flying backward from the power. One Pokemon got up and the other didn't. Koffing was lying on the ground with spirals filling his eyes and murmuring his cries under his breath until he was returned by the Worker. Jolt was standing with weak legs, proud of herself, before falling from the poison.

Ash extended his hand to the worker who earned his respect and taught him a lot about poison types. "Thank you for the battle." The worker smiled and shook his head in amusement. "Yeah, no problem kid." He waved Ash goodbye as he walked over to his station which was only a few feet away, making Ash wonder why the boss would pay him to make them work again if he could just threaten their pay.

He walked out of the cursed complex and it's thin bars and various Pokemon to the boss, who was still standing at the tree. The boss grinned at Ash's return. "Did you get the job done?" He asked Ash, who nodded and extended his hand expecting money. He got that money in a wad of cash. Ash didn't know how much money was in it, but he knew it was more than he currently had, so he thanked the boss and bid him goodbye.

He walked back down the road to the Pokemon Center to heal his Pokemon up. Nobody he knew was in the Pokemon Center, which Ash had expected. He wondered if Hugh had beaten Cheren and how Rosa was doing at this point, but he waited on those thoughts to heal his poisoned Jolt.

Nurse Joy smiled at him as he took his two Pokeballs back from the counter after waiting half an hour for them to be healed. She made good time for healing a poisoned Pokemon fully. He had tried before with Alder and it was difficult.

He left the Pokemon Center without saying a word to the other few trainers in the lobby and stepped out into the street, hearing loud music from Roxie's gym already. It seemed that she really did perform songs in the gym and he wondered what a battle late in the day with all of those people there would be like.

It would be like a league battle. He had already battled Cheren in front of all of the school kids, but what was different than battling in front of other trainers.

He walked east of the Pokemon Center this time and looked at the gate to Pokestar Studios. He wondered what it would be like performing in movies and being a great actor or actress and how stressful it might be.

"Hey, you there!"

Ash jumped at a loud, boisterous voice behind him. He turned around to see a stylish man in an afro walking towards him. "Me?" Ash asked, pointing at himself with this thumb. "Yes! You!" The man said with a large grin covering his face. Ash knew he was in for a ride.

"How would you like to star in a movie?" Ash wasn't too sure what to say. Most people looked for an opportunity like this their whole life, and some weird guy in an afro said he could just give it to him on the spot?

"Why me?" Ash asked, confused. The man responded, "I have a great feeling about you, now c'mon, let's go!" The man ran past him into the gate and Ash reluctantly followed.

Even the gate looked luxurious, playing loud music beautifully composed and having a red carpet symbolizing the famous events for the movie stars that performed here. The man that was at the door reeked of upper class and looked snobby as well like his parents had made him work here and he just couldn't wait to get out and buy more fancy clothes.

When the doors to the gate opened, he saw a magnificent sight that few had the luxury of seeing. The colors popped out at him and the sheer size of the studio was amazing. It was by far the largest studio in the world and he saw many actors he had seen in movies before just walking around. A man with yellow hair that seemed to be balding and wearing a purple suit walked up to the two of us and the afro guy shook his hand.

The man then looked at Ash and introduced himself. "Hello, son. My name is Stu Deeoh, like studio!" The man laughed at his awful joke and Ash sweat-dropped, as did the guy with the afro. He was sure that Stu Deeoh wasn't his real name, but he didn't comment on it.

"I'm sure you want to learn about the wonderful Pokestar Studio, but I need an eensy bit of time to prepare." That seemed acceptable to Ash, he didn't want to be here in the first place. "I'll have my scout escort you to the movie theater." Ash assumed the man with the afro was the scout and nodded to him. He nodded back, confirming his suspicions.

Stu Deeoh walked away and the escort walked past Ash. "Let me tell you the story of Pokestar Studios!" Ash caught up with him and was surprisingly interested in what he had to say about the major filming landmark.

"This place was built only a few years ago to be a metropolis for people who wished to star in films." Ash nodded, catching the gist of what he was saying. They walked up to a large white building lit up with lanterns on each side. "This is the movie theater, where we show our prized movies to the public."

Ash wasn't sure how they kept the other sides of the studio from the public, but he just assumed they had a different entrance for them. They walked into the theater and were blinded by a bright white light.

The interior was amazing, a red carpet lining the floor with large doors in the front and counters with cashiers behind them on each side. There were a few people in the lobby of the theater, making it look a lot more lively.

"So, how do you like it?" The scout asked him with a large grin on his face. "It's amazing!" Ash looked around at all of the fancy things and glamorous colors lining the walls, baffled at how places like this existed outside of movies.

They strolled down the red carpet without speaking another word to each other, not too sure what to say while Stu Deeoh was preparing for the prospect presented to him. Ash saw that there was a movie about to play, and wondered what it would be like to be in one. He decided he wanted to take a look at the one showing and take some lessons.

"I see you looking at my movie." Ash turned to his left to see a man in a sailor's suit with a sailor's cap on also. He had a large mustache and a ponytail in his hair, making Ash wonder if he should know who he was. "Yeah, I'm thinking about going to watch it." The man gave a proud grin and his hand shot out to Ash. "Thank you, son. My name's Pop Roxie."

Ash wondered if the strange man was related to Roxie in any way. They both had strange fashion but looked completely different and gave off a different vibe. Pop Roxie noticed the confused stare and chuckled. "I guess you're wondering why I'm dressed as a sailor?" Pop Roxie asked with a smile.

"Well, that's because I used to be the sailor that transported people between Castelia and Virbank." Well, that made sense to Ash, but it still didn't confirm why he was in Pokestar Studios of all places and had made a movie. "I wanted to become a star so I quit my job as a sailor and now work as a great actor here." Ash thought that was pretty dumb and irresponsible, but didn't voice his many concerns.

The scout walked up to the two and asked if they would like to go see the movie, and both of them agreed and followed his lead into the large movie theater.

It was larger than nearly any room he had seen in his life. The large Pokemon Center lobby didn't hold a candle to this room with the sheer amount of space in it. If this was just the theater, he wondered what the studio would look like compared to this.

People were already lined up in the seats, but since the scout was a very special person and Pop Roxie starred in the movie they could sit in a booth near the top. The stairs they took on the way up were at least as big as his room, and the booth itself was bigger than his living room.

The machine that played the movie began to whir and Ash turned his undivided attention to the screen, where the signature Pokestar Studios logo that he had seen on many movies popped up. It said this was a short film and wasn't meant to be a full-length movie, and Ash found that acceptable. Making a movie seemed to live a tolling process that took many years usually, so a short film being made in a week or so wasn't unlikely.

Words flashed across the screen, introducing him to the film's plot and characters in a lazy way. He saw the protagonist's name, Riolu-Man, played by Pop Roxie. It seemed a bit… odd and not special in many ways, but he hoped the movie would turn out a lot better than it had started.

Riolu-Man confronted Brycen-Man in the middle of a park with people all around them commenting on the battle. Brycen-Man sent out a Pawniard, a steel and dark type that wouldn't fare well against the Riolu that was released next. He wasn't sure who owned the Riolu, but they must be special to have one.

"Go, my prized Pokemon! Destroy the city!" Brycen seemed like he was a good actor, unlike Pop Roxie who seemed like he wasn't too sure how to respond to that. "It's not nice to do bad things!" It seemed so incredibly forced and out of place from a middle-age man that it was almost comical, but still wasn't and just showed how he really should just go back to sailing form Castelia to Virbank.

Riolu made the first move, sprinting forward to use Force Palm as Pop Roxie had commanded in the movie. Pawniard didn't even try to dodge, making the battle look stale and boring. He hoped the people watching this knew that it wasn't a true Pokemon battle, just one made for movies to be easier to make.

Brycen-Man then returned the Pawniard with a scoff and released a Vullaby. From what Ash knew, the Vullaby line was dark and flying type, not favoring Riolu. He guessed that Riolu-Man and Riolu had a way to get past this and defeat the villain.

That wasn't even close to what happened. Just as before, Riolu rushed forward and used Force Palm, which did some damage but not near enough to make the Vullaby faint.

Brycen laughed and told Vullaby to use Air Slash, and Ash knew the battle was over. The Riolu toppled at the force of the Air Slash and both actors looked like something happened that wasn't supposed to as Riolu fainted.

Ash felt pretty bad for the Pokemon. He thought that all captured Pokemon should have a say in what they are doing, like how Mimey cleans up the house usually instead of battling while Oshawott and Jolt love to battle and travel. He wasn't sure if the Pokemon had chosen the fate of being weak movie stars, but it wasn't a good one in his opinion.

Riolu-Man fell to the ground, defeated as Brycen-Man mocked him and lectured about how he would now destroy the city and he couldn't do anything to stop him. The hero just looked even more pathetic and the movie ended, the audience thoroughly confused and Ash disappointed. It gave him a lesson, but not of what to do, but of what not to do.

Ash looked down to the audience that had around a fourth of the usual people that he had seen in the room earlier. They must have had the same thoughts as him and left in frustration.

The three of them exited the booth and went back out into the main lobby of the movie theater. Ash and the scout looked at Pop Roxie, who just looked down at the ground in shame. It was deserved, but Ash knew he had a passion for movies. He just wasn't the right man for the job.

"Yeah, that wasn't good." Pop Roxie said with a nervous laugh. Ash gave him a sympathetic look while the scout gave a light glare for his foolishness. "I just really wanted to experience what it was like starring in a movie, and I guess I did." That made Ash feel a little more happy for him. Even though the movie sucked, he got what he wanted out of it and wasn't too discouraged about his failure.

Pop Roxie looked to the sky, or the roof, and exclaimed, "I will go back to being a sailor, and I will be the best there ever was!" He speed-walked out of the movie theater with a new passion in his heart.

What he said brought memories back to Ash. Growing up, that was his only goal in life, to be the best trainer there ever was and become champion. Whether he knew it or not, that goal changed when he spent time with Alder and found out the many downsides to being champion. Alder said it was one of the reasons Hilbert left to go on his travels with the legendary Pokemon that chose him as the legend went. Hilbert knew he could easily become champion, but didn't want to because he felt he was a free soul and didn't want to be held down by being champion.

Ash guessed that's what he, Hilbert, Alder, and Benga had in common.

The scout's pocket vibrated, and he pulled his phone out and answered a call. Ash waited around for a minute while the scout answered his call, and midway through the motioned for Ash to follow him. Ash obliged, entering the exterior of Pokestar Studios yet again.

It had gotten darker since he was out there, making Ash think about how long he was in that theater. It felt like time was different when he had things to focus on other than training and adventuring.

After a minute of walking east of the movie theater, they reached what Ash assumed was the studio. It was even larger than the movie theater, officially making it the biggest building Ash had seen. Granted, it wasn't much compared to other buildings in Unova, but it was a lot compared to places like Flocessy and Aspertia.

The outside of it looked dull, but Ash wasn't disheartened. It was only the studio and didn't have to look perfect in every way. It wasn't where they showed the movies that were created and only had to do its job. Nothing else needed.

The two walked inside the studio to see what looked like a waiting room. A few people were standing around who looked like they could be actors or in the stage crew. To his right, there was a desk with who he assumed to be a secretary at the desk, talking on the phone about an unnamed upcoming film that Ash hadn't heard of.

The scout walked up to the door and waited by it as Stu Deeoh dramatically walked out, glamorous as ever. "Ash! My beautiful boy! You would not believe what we have in store for you!" Ash severely doubted that. The role he had was most likely unimaginably exaggerated by Stu Deeoh knowing his attitude.

Ash was wrong.

To his sheer disbelief, the former gym leader of Iccirus City turned movie star Brycen walked out, fully dressed in the costume from the film he had just watched. The white-haired man gave Ash a respectful wave before speaking to Stu Deeoh once again, leaving Ash shell-shocked.

One of the most powerful trainers in Unova that he had looked up to just walked out in front of him like it was no big deal. To be fair, a lot of people found it crazy that Ash saw Alder on at least a weekly basis before he started his journey, but this was a different situation entirely. He guessed he might be remaking the movie that Pop Roxie had been in that flopped, and he would be working with Brycen on it. It sounded like a fever dream that he would forget a few minutes after he woke up, but it was real life.

Brycen walked up to Ash and reached a hand. "I am Brycen. It is nice to meet you." Ash took the stretched hand and gave the biggest grin he could muster with how exhausted he was. Brycen shallowly smiled back before walking back into what he assumed was the filming room.

Stu Deeoh followed suit, gesturing for Ash to enter as well. Ash jumped at the chance and left the other people in the room behind as he entered.

The studio was filled with green. Particularly, it was on the floors and walls that the cameras pointed at. Ash wondered if all of the beautiful places he had wished to go to as a child were just made up places that never existed in the first place. It made Ash feel dumb, but he was just a kid and it was fine to be dumb sometimes.

People were lined up on the sides of the room, specifically the two closest to him. They would be filming on the other side is what Ash deduced due to the cameras pointing in that direction.

Stu Deeoh was still talking with Brycen, who looked hesitant to walk back over to the green screens. Ash accidentally eavesdropped on a bit of their conversation. "It took over thirty shots to get that and it still turned out horrible. I'm not too sure." Ash felt like he could do a lot better than Pop Roxie did, but kept his feelings to himself for a minute while he listened in on their conversation.

Stu Deeoh responded, "This kid has got talent! My senses tell me so!" Ash smirked and shook his head. The overly extravagant man exaggerated most of what he said. While Ash was sure he had found many great talents before, it wasn't like the man had a sense for them.

"I'll trust you." With a simple statement ending the conversation, Brycen stepped over to Ash, slowly inspecting his posture. "I hope you will perform better than my last companion." Brycen strolled over to the open space with the green screens and Ash pondered over what he said.

Ash moved to the space where the filming would most likely take place. There were a few props set up, like a fountain with water frozen in the air that filming could most likely make flow and the floorboard being bricks instead of tile. It made the atmosphere a lot different like Ash was in the setting of the movie.

In the minutes that followed, Ash was given the run-down of what the short film was going to be. Instead of using the baby Riolu that they had only recently acquired, Ash would be using his Pokemon.

The last film flopped, and they needed a new star to revive it. For some reason, they decided it was worth their time and money to take the first kid that they saw on the street and take him in. Thus, Ash became the new movie star of Pokestar Studios.

The first shots were simple enough. A few close-ups of the two characters, one representing order and justice and one chaos and anarchy. The extras in the background ran around, the occasional scream let out. They did some expert make-up to make it look like Pop Roxie was still dead on the ground.

"You dare challenge me, you nameless nobody?" An uncharacteristic intimidating tone of voice came from the usually stoic Brycen. Ash wasn't given lines but was told to improvise with the character he had. He was just a do-gooder like Pop Roxie was, so he gave a basic line. "I'm your worst enemy!"

Brycen gave a chilling laugh, partly amused by the boy in front of him's enthusiasm and great acting, unexpected from young actors such as him. "Foolish boy! Come out Pawniard!" A Pawniard that Ash had seen just a few hours beforehand was standing in front of him, looking short but very strong as they were known to be.

When Ash asked if he had to use rental Pokemon, Stu Deeoh told him to use his own Pokemon. He wanted to capture the feel of a Pokemon Battle for those who were too rich to want to go out on rough, dirty journies as Ash had. Ash happily obliged and had told his Pokemon of the situation. They were somewhat nervous to be performing in front of a large audience in a movie, but Ash assured them it would be great training for Roxie's gym, where they would have to battle in front of nearly the entirety of Virbank due to the upcoming concert.

Out came Oshawott, giving an audible cry of his name upon being released. He had heard of the Pawniard he was going to fight, and the metal creature did not look too strong.

Oshawott stayed wary though, having heard tales of the Pawniard from Pokemon who hung around the ranch at Alder's house. They were machines in battles due to centuries of being led under Bisharp who expected only the best from them. They would do what their trainer asked by any means necessary.

The battle commenced with Brycen, or Brycen-Man as he was to be referred to in the movie being shot, commanding the Pawniard to use Metal Claw. Oshawott wasn't too pained from the attack he took head-on, and Pawniard jumped back to its original place.

The move Oshawott had been expecting Ash to call out, Focus Energy, formed yellow energy around him for a second before dissipating into Oshawott's body. "Water Pulse!" Oshawott powered up a powerful Water Pulse and, before Brycen could call a move, shot the ball of water right into the side of Pawniard's head.

Unluckily for Ash, Pawniard wasn't confused at all, just more determined to finally get a good fight out of its system. Blades scraping, Pawniard got back up looking undamaged to Ash's shock and Oshawott's dismay.

Then, Pawniard just walked up to Oshawott. It was so casual and unthreatening that Oshawott and Ash somehow didn't expect a thing. They were surprised when Pawniard swiped at Oshawott's stomach, sending him falling back and scrambling to get back on his feet.

Brycen gave a malicious laugh, "Faint Attack, one of my favorite moves. You never expect it, making it that much better." Ash hadn't heard of that move before and guessed due to the wicked nature of the move that it was of the dark typing.

Ash knew he had to finish the metal beast off quickly or else he would already be down a Pokemon. Oshawott had taken a slash directly to his stomach, and wouldn't be able to go on for much longer. He could still see the faint sight of glowing yellow energy in Oshawott's eyes.

He had to act fast.

"Fury Cutter!" Pawniard rushed forward, aiming to slash Oshawott directly in the stomach again, but Ash had another plan. "Launch yourself up with Water Gun!"

Oshawott knew what he was talking about, but had never thought of actually trying it out. Head down, he shot out a beam of water from his mouth that hit the floor. The force of it was like if he was a rocket blowing out fuel, propelling him towards the ceiling while Pawniard just watched, not too sure what he was supposed to do.

A Water Pulse fell to the confused Pawniard and, just like that, Ash beat Brycen's first Pokemon. Ash looked at the director for a second, and Stu Deeoh nodded approvingly. Ash assumed he was doing something right, so he continued.

Brycen returned Pawniard and gave Ash a passive-aggressive look that Ash returned. "What is your name, boy?" Ash looked to Stu Deeoh, as he wasn't too sure what his name was. Stu Deeoh returned the same look, showing Ash that they weren't too prepared for this.

Ash decided to go with what he thought would be good. "Ash. Ash Ketchum." Stu Deeoh grinned at the sheer determination in his voice and, in that moment, knew that Ash was the right person for the job.

Brycen even looked impressed at Ash's natural ability to act, or maybe it was just his determination he always had.

"Well, Ash. You have done well in deterring one of my Pokemon. Now, I must apologize, for you will fall to my evil ace." Brycen released a Vullaby that looked particularly mischevious and deadly if not stopped.

Ash hoped that the Vullaby was just acting, not wanting to deal with more Pokemon wanting to murder his. Oshawott got up after falling from the height he was at, ready to fight but injured from the slashes formed from Pawniard's sharp scythes.

Again, Brycen called out the first move, "Nasty Plot." Vullaby had a dark glint in her eye as she gained horrific ideas, her special attack rising as she did so. Ash got nervous from the rising power of the Vullaby in front of him and wanted to end this very fast so Oshawott wasn't hurt.

"Double Team!" Using what energy he had left, Oshawott formed six different versions of himself. Vullaby looked around, befuddled by the move used in front of her. Brycen smirked, but Ash didn't notice and grew confident.

"Gust." It didn't take much for Oshawott to be taken out. A normal gust would have done a good deal of damage, and possibly knock him out, but a powered up Gust was sure to do the job.

All of Oshawott's clones, himself included, were swept into the spiraling tornado of wind. Even the cameras started to shake and nearly fall, but the crew behind the film caught them before anything bad could happen.

Oshawott flew out of the tornado, fainted and therefore out of the battle. Ash begrudgingly returned Oshawott, thanking him for the great battle. It seemed as if the Vullaby in front of him proved to be much more of a problem than anticipated.

Whispering his thanks to the returned Oshawott, Ash pulled out his second and last Pokeball. He would have an advantage, but Vullaby's heightened power would be a huge problem for him in the long run. Jolt appeared from a red beam, her signature cry coming out as well. She and Vullaby locked eyes and glared at each other. Jolt was Ash's final Pokemon he was able to use for the movie, and he had to win this battle. He had always wanted to defeat Brycen and, while this was a movie, it was the closest he would likely get.

Vullaby growled predatorily. They were known to be scavengers, and weak looking Pokemon were some of their favorite. Unfortunately for the diapered bird, this weak looking Pokemon was very strong and an electric type.

Vullaby knew no better, but Brycen did and knew he had to do something to take the Mareep out quickly. If the movie was going to be good, Ash needed to be a great trainer and fully prove himself to Brycen and the audience watching.

"Nasty Plot" Vullaby began to power up again, leaving Ash wondering what Brycen was planning. He wasn't ready to find out, and yelled, "Cotton Spore!" Jolt nodded at Ash's audible command and let loose balls of sticky cotton that would slow Vullaby down. Vullaby was too busy powering up her special attack further than she already had to see the balls of cotton flying towards her. She was hit head-on by the sticky spores and would be slower throughout the battle.

Brycen grimaced at the cancellation of Vullaby's Nasty Plot due to the spores. Her special attack was still boosted, but not as much as he needed. It would have to do, and he hoped the Mareep in front of him was weaker than it seemed.

"Thunder Shock!" Ash called out his second attack, preparing to finish the Vullaby off without too much trouble. Jolt was an electric type, what could go wrong?

Jolt's Thunder Shock hit right on the mark, crippling Vullaby's health, leaving her vulnerable and easier to take out. Vullaby surprisingly got right back up, showing that she either had a need to win at all costs or was much stronger than she had let on. Brycen knew that the first option was true, and needed to get out a finishing blow out quickly.

"Punishment." Ash had never heard of the move called out. He assumed it was a dark type move, and watched Vullaby closely. Jolt did the same but was less attentive due to being tired from the moves she had used.

Neither of the two were prepared for Vullaby to fly forward at a shocking speed. The move was unavoidable, even with Vullaby slowed down quite a bit. Ash wasn't expecting the move to have any capability of making Jolt faint, but the most damaging attacks are the unexpected ones. In a matter of seconds, all of the power Vullaby had built was let loose into Jolt, who could do nothing to stop it.

All was silent as Jolt flew back into a makeshift wall. It looked to be made of concrete, but it had softer materials mixed in with it so Pokemon and people weren't seriously injured if they fell into it.

"It looks like I have won this fight!" Brycen gave a booming laugh, still in character and trying to lengthen the movie and give Jolt time to get up. Stu Deeoh was preparing to give the cameramen the word to stop filming and have to break the news to Ash that he wasn't right for the job when something amazing happened.

Jolt stumbled to her feet, legs shaking from the pain she had experienced. Brycen cursed in anger, knowing if Vullaby had been able to finish the second Nasty Plot that the move might have been able to finish the battle. In reality, Brycen was proud of Ash for raising such a loyal Pokemon that could take a powerful Punishment and still get up.

Ash grinned and the camera focused in on him as he gave a finishing move, "Thunder Shock!" Just like what happened a few days prior, Jolt's electricity flared and she sent out a Thunder Shock, the most powerful one she had ever produced.

Vullaby, who was trotting around, squawked in terror when she saw the Thunder Shock coming right at her. She had no time to do anything else before she was taken out of the battle, feathers smoking and eyes swirling.

Ash grinned. He had done it. More specifically, he and his Pokemon had done it.

Brycen returned his Vullaby, a glare still on his face. Out of nowhere, five people dressed as policemen sprinted in and tackled Brycen to the floor. A sixth one who wore different clothes and most likely had a different rank walked up to Ash.

"You have done this nation a great service. I thank you." Ash nodded and smiled at Jolt, who had sat down and was now panting in exhaustion. Ash returned her so she could rest, and turned to the officer. "Don't thank me, thank my friends." He held both of his Pokeballs in his hands as the cameras zoomed in on them, closing out the shot and the movie as a whole.

"And cut!" Stu Deeoh walked out to the set where Brycen pushed a few of the actors off of him, an irritated expression on his face. His face lightened up when he saw Ash, and Brycen walked over to him.

"You did great." Ash was honored to hear that from a movie expert, especially since he had never acted before. As if he could read minds, Brycen shook his head with a small smile on his face. "I'm not talking about your acting. You battled excellently."

A shocked look entered Ash's face. To hear this from someone was great, but from the Icirrus Gym leader himself was unthinkable. In his prime, his power was Elite Four level. He could still beat Drayden any day of the week and match many of the Elite Four, and debatably should have been one in place of Marshall.

Now that Ash thought about it, he had received comments about his skills as a trainer from Alder, Roxie and now Brycen. He was getting contacts in high places, and he didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Thank you, sir." Ash bowed in respect to Brycen, who accepted it and moved on with the conversation. "Your Mareep is incredibly close to evolving." Ash looked up again, baffled at the information and how Brycen even knew that. Brycen, again reading his thoughts, said, "Experienced trainer can usually tell when a Pokemon is close. I honestly thought your Mareep would evolve during the battle."

Befuddled, Ash just nodded and accepted the information presented to him. Stu Deeoh took the chance seen in the opening and talked to Ash. "Marvelous! Fabulous! Spectacular! You were amazing Ash! You have a lot of promise in this career!"

Ash shook his head. He didn't want to become an actor and betray his original dream of becoming a Pokemon Master. "I think I'm gonna stick to being a trainer for now." Stu Deeoh thought for a second before accepting his request. "Alright, Ash. We just need to talk for a bit longer and figure out how to pay you."

It turned out that Ash's Pokedex had a way of accepting payment digitally, which would be very useful when Ash was on the road. He knew he could pa with it, but he didn't know he could also accept them. For just being in the movie, Stu Deeoh gave him a large sum of money and he would get much more depending on how the movie performed.

He walked out of the filming room and saw the scout still outside the door. They made eye contact and nodded to each other, the scout thanking Ash for getting him a bit of pay and Ash thanking the scout for the experience of being in a Pokestar Studios movie.

When he got outside, he noticed how late it was. The sun had long set and he could hear the faint sound of a concert going on, most likely by Roxie and her band. It seemed that the nickname of Virbank being "The town that never sleeps" was true.

Walking back through the luxurious gate, he entered Virbank City once again. The streets were dark and it looked very sketchy, but there was nobody on the streets right now. Everyone was either trying to sleep in the comforts of their bed or living the nightlife and visiting Roxie, who required barely any money to watch.

The Pokemon Center was the only building he could see that was lit up. Everywhere else had the lights off to not heighten the already costly light bills. The doors to the center opened automatically and Ash entered.

Just like the night prior, he gave his Pokeballs to Nurse Joy and went back to the room that he still had. He basked in the beauty of the murals in the halls and went into his room. He was too wiped out to do anything but go to sleep.

A day had passed and he was even closer to becoming the Pokemon Master he had always wanted to be.


	5. Poisons

**Well, this took a while. I wrote this once, hated how it turned out, and rewrote it again. School had also been hitting me hard so I've had no downtime to write lately. Now that I'm past this roadblock of a chapter, I can get working on future ones. Happy New Year by the way!**

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Once again, Ash awoke to the colorful sight of drawings on the plain white walls that brightened the room in the early hours that Ash woke up at.

Unlike the morning prior, his thoughts went straight to the activities that he would be performing that day. He was going to train a bit before he challenged Roxie due to the rumors of her inexperienced team still overpowering experienced opponents. He had only been on his journey for around a week.

In fact, he had only been on his for six days if he counted correctly. Before his journey, every passing day felt longer and longer. At this point, everything was flying by according to Ash.

Eyes half-lidded, he rummaged through his backpack in an attempt to find a light snack that could last him through the day. He saw his TM case and was reminded of the TM he had acquired from Cheren, Work Up. He also still had Return, but it only was capable of being used once at this point and he wanted to make sure the Pokemon he used it on was worth it.

He pulled out his Pokedex that held all of the information he needed. He used the newly implemented feature of seeing what Pokemon could learn a certain TM and input "Work Up" into the search bar at the top.

It came up with many results, showing him many Pokemon he had never even heard of before, along with some that were extremely rare. He scrolled down to the Unova section of it and saw that Oshawott could learn it. He pondered on what region his Mareep hailed from. After a few more minutes of seeking out Mareep, he came up with nothing.

Since there wasn't a reason not to, he searched up Return to see if his Pokemon came up. Since it was in his recent searches, Mareep and Oshawott came right up, a small but helpful detail put in by the great developers of the Pokedex. Along with them, there was a long page of the Pokemon that could, along with many that hadn't been tested yet due to Return being a band new TM on the market that had a one time use. To get every Pokemon down, they would need hundreds of TMs, something most researchers couldn't afford in their wildest dreams.

He still had no plans to use Return, but Work Up gave him some ideas. Maybe the extra boost in power was all that Jolt needed to evolve, and Oshawott could power up his already strong Water Pulse.

The options left his head as he realized the true weight of the day he had. In his first week, he would be having his second gym battle, something most trainers didn't have at least until their second or even third week. He was going fast, faster than he had wanted too.

Ash wanted to give his Pokemon time to train, and the fast pace he was going at left little to no time for that. Granted, Jolt was near evolving and he guessed Oshawott was getting close as well, but only time would tell if his quick methods paid off in the end.

Ash got up to get his long day started. He took a soothing shower that made his tense muscles melt at the touch of the steaming water. Seeing no need to rush, he stayed in there and daydreamed for a while.

Steam filling up the bathroom, Ash brushed his teeth in the mirror already too foggy to look at his reflection in. Teeth clean and breath nice, Ash left his room with his minimal things left in there. He didn't need to carry everything with him during his gym battle after all.

He looked at the clock and saw the hands locked in the position of noon, and Ash knew it wasn't that late. The damned thing had to be broken. Though not as reliable, he could still pull out his Pokedex and see the time that way. It was 10:34 in the morning, meaning that Ash's internal clock he had been training for a year was working. He mentally cheered and opened the double doors that led to the lobby.

Nothing had changed about the place, just the people in it. Specifically, how sparse they were. There were only five trainers visible in there, their eyes drooping exhaustedly and yawning uncontrollably. The concert last night must have been crazy.

Taking another look, he saw a familiar face that he hadn't seen in days, which felt like months.

Hugh was playing with the three Pokemon he had seen at their last point of contact, their battle. He saw Sewaddle in Hugh's lap, being pet while Poliwag and Tepig lightly wrestled in good nature. They looked like a happy family in the state they were.

Ash called his name, and Hugh perked up at the sound of it. It was like he hadn't heard his name in days, a feeling Ash could relate to from being on that dreaded part of the route for a few days. At least he experienced something magnificent while he was there, he could hardly imagine the boredom of having nearly nothing to do on that route.

"Ash!" Hugh stood up unexpectedly, sending his Sewaddle scrambling to land on her feet on the floor. The grass-bug type sent a vicious glare Hugh's way, a glare that wasn't missed by him.

Hugh offered a sheepish smile and a shrug of his shoulders to Sewaddle, who huffed and crawled over to Tepig and Poliwag, who was staring at Ash like they were expecting a battle to sprout out any second.

Ash smiled at the sight of Hugh's usual excited tone of voice. "What's up, Hugh!" They ran up to each other and high-fived, their normal way of greeting each other. Ash turned his head away to see the other trainers in the Pokemon Center staring at the two, laughs flooding out of their mouths.

"Let's keep it down a bit." Hugh nodded at Ash's request, but Ash knew deep down that nothing could stop his true personality from coming out. It was what Ash admired Hugh for.

Ash walked with Hugh over to the desk at the front of the lobby. Like she knew Ash was coming, Nurse Joy got out Ash's beloved Pokeballs and gave them to him. "Have a nice day!" Ash nodded back at her, signifying he wished her the best as well. After an expecting look from Hugh, he released his two Pokemon. "Osha!" "Mareep!" They both let out their name upon being released, Hugh's eyes nearly shining at the sight of seeing them again.

"They look strong!" Hugh exclaimed, Poliwag and Tepig walking over to inspect the known Pokemon. Jolt and Oshawott stared right back at them accepting their inaudible challenge issued.

"They are. Jolt's really close to evolving, too!" Ash replied, staring at Jolt fondly, ready for the next stage in her life to take place.

"How do you know?" Hugh questioned him with a surprised look adorning his face. Ash was bout to answer truthfully, but he remembered the other people around him that might have killed to be in the position he was almost unwillingly put into yesterday. Getting on everyone's bad side was not a venture Ash wanted to take. "You can kind of tell with electric types. The Pokedex has information on it."

Ash was hoping that Hugh wouldn't take the information he gave him to heart and find little to nothing on how close Pokemon were to evolving. Ash suspected it was a trade secret only the most experienced had, and wouldn't be available to just anyone. Thankfully, Hugh nodded and left the subject alone.

As expected, Hugh asked his usual question, "Wanna battle?" For the first time Ash could remember, he shook his head, not letting his rivalry come before his journey. "Sorry, I have a gym battle today."

Ash's Pokemon knew that this was the case, and were smirking at the other two. Tepig nearly had smoke pouring from his nostrils in frustration and Poliwag's tail smacked the floor violently. He needed to finally defeat this pesky Oshawott that got him caught in the first place.

Hugh gaped, not truly believing Ash at first. He searched for any signs that Ash was joking but found none. Ash was already days ahead of him, he needed to catch up. "Dude! Calm down! It's only been a week!"

Though Ash knew he was joking, his comment still got Ash thinking. Was he moving too fast? He was having fun and his Pokemon were as strong or maybe even stronger than most that had been traveling for a week. He shook the doubts off, not wanting to worry himself too much.

"So, what are you gonna do today?" Hugh gave a large grin at the topic that he had been prepared to answer for a while. "I'm catching a new Pokemon in the complex!" Ash sighed, knowing the challenges the Pokemon there held. They were stubborn and sometimes even hard to find. If he had assistance, though, he would persevere.

"Any clue what Pokemon you want?" Ash asked, half-joking and half hoping he held the answers to the question.

"Nope!"

A baffled look filled Ash's face. How could one be that unprepared? If he wanted to really catch a Pokemon there, he at least had to know what Pokemon patrolled the parts. Ash assumed the best and hoped he at least knew the Pokemon there. "You know what the Pokemon there are, though. Right?" Ash asked with desperation in his voice.

"Nah, not really." Ash nearly fell to the floor. He figured he could at least look in his Pokedex to check. "Are you gonna check?" Without missing a beat, a confused smile filled Hugh's facial features. "How?"

At that point, Ash was sure that Hugh was joking. In the past, Alder had constantly lectured them on the features of the Pokedex, including the habitat list that was one of the main features other than getting information on Pokemon and its uses as a mobile device that was, in Ash's opinion, better than a phone.

Ash went on to reteach what he had learned from Alder long ago, Hugh slowly regaining his lost memories in the process. "Thanks, Ash!" Ash nodded his head, showing that there was no problem. He would do nearly anything for his friend, even if he was a bit forgetful at times.

Hugh opened his Pokedex to see what he had been missing and gaped at all of the untapped potential he had been hiding during his whole journey. Ash sweat-dropped at the sight of it, knowing he still wouldn't use it to its full potential. A list of Pokemon showed up on the holographic device, supplying all of the Pokemon Ash knew were there.

"There are so many!" Hugh spoke in an amazed tone, "Who should I pick?" If it were up to the old Ash, it would be a Growlithe or either Elekid or Magby, but he knew better than that now.

"Just pick whoever you feel like you would like the most."

Hugh took the answer he had been seeking for gratefully and ran out of the Pokemon Center in blind hope, his Pokemon frantically following him. Poliwag and Oshawott shared one last glance that promised a battle whenever they next got the chance. Just like that, Ash was alone again.

It didn't feel that way though. He looked to his feet to see Oshawott and Jolt jollily speaking to each other as if they were old friends, and it hit Ash. They weren't weapons like some thought, they were living beings that he would consider his friends.

Ash smiled and returned the two, thinking about where he would be going next. Obviously, he had the gym battle with Roxie today, but he wanted to get a bit more training in beforehand. The river that ran by the mountain seemed like it would be a perfect place to do the job.

Air ran through Ash's nose as he took in a deep breath of fresh air. It wasn't exactly fresh with the countless factories that surrounded the city and controlled the environment, but it was still a good feeling after spending the last of his night inside filming the movie.

Ash was thinking about how his performance in that movie. Sure he ended up beating the bad guy, but was there more he could have done, like talking more or battling better?

He assumed he did just fine based off of the reception he got from both Brycen on his battling and from Stu Deeoh on his acting, but you can never be sure with big businessmen like he was. He hoped for the best and that he could make a lot of money to fuel his journey through the film he was in.

Ash exited the tunnel-like building that separated Virbank from Route 20. He never realized how high up he was compared to everything that was in the route below him. He could even faintly see the edges of the higher Route 20. It had taken him so long to make it across the route due to the windy path he took, the training he did and the simple fact that he didn't want to risk him and his Pokemon being mauled by an overly aggressive Scolipede that was hungry and would eat him as their daily meal. He made a good time still and was the first trainer with only one badge to make it across in years. It was a big accomplishment for him.

The light breeze that generated on top of the mountain breezed the skin on his face, sending goosebumps down his arms. It was a cold morning, and Ash would be sure to use it.

Instead of going all of the way down the mountain to the bottom and having to take a painstakingly steep climb back up the mountain, Ash found a spot a small way down and off the beaten path. He was sure to be alone there, the people who would be camping here for the sights or the adventure would be out on the road by now.

Ash released his Pokemon who let out their name upon being released. They looked to Ash expectantly, certain that they were supposed to be on a battlefield right now preparing to attack a poison type Pokemon, not on the edge of a river with only Ash in sight.

"We're getting a bit of last-minute training in." The two Pokemon let out a loud groan, making Ash wince as he continued, "But we need this to deal with those poison types."

Oshawott, while annoyed, understood that they needed to train for that as a wild Koffing could give him a run for his money in the state he was in right now. Jolt was the same way, just with a bit more protection with her thick wool that covered her at all times unless burned off, which a Koffing usually couldn't do.

They couldn't do much about those weaknesses, but what they could do was work on their offense. A good offense is a great defense if you asked Ash.

There were only a few things that Ash wanted to touch up on before challenging the gym. One of these things was Oshawott's accuracy with his Water Pulses. He knew Oshawott's accuracy was as good as it would likely get for his state but, after seeing what was possible with Focus Energy, Ash was determined to perfect Oshawott's accuracy. If he could nearly confirm a confusion upon landing a Water Pulse, possibilities would open like never before.

To work on that, Ash had Oshawott swim down the river until he reached a field of rocks that was barely visible to Ash. There, he would work on his accuracy in peace without influence from Ash and Jolt.

Speaking of the electric sheep, Ash had big plans for her as well. With his newfound knowledge that Jolt was nearing evolution, Ash knew that only one more push was needed for it to take place. He knew he couldn't manage that during training, so he would prepare her for the upcoming gym battle.

Jolt would mainly be working on mobility and endurance, such as using moves in stressful situations. He had her run sprints for at least ten minutes before letting out her most powerful electric attacks into the dense forest, hoping the native Pokemon wouldn't be too angry with the disturbance.

Ash didn't have a clue what Pokemon Roxie used for beginning trainers such as himself, but he guessed that she would be using the poison types found around the area. Grimer, Koffing, and Venipede came to mind, but even he knew that this gym battle wasn't going to be expected.

He was confident that he could easily beat Cheren's team that was unleashed against him now that he had more experience, but Roxie was a different case altogether.

She had been a gym leader for nearly two years now and didn't seem to be slowing down. Studies show that she was on track to surpass the strength of some of the Elite Four, and could swiftly replace one in the coming years.

Ash opened his Pokedex and searched for information on the three Pokemon previously listed. Koffing was a simple being to deal with but had the annoying ability to levitate. He could quite easily deal with that problem due to Jolt's electricity that could reach places Oshawott's water couldn't.

Grimer was a much more simple problem. The only thing that plagued him with facing a Grimer was the fear of it landing a Body Slam which, from a Grimer or Muk, was notorious for instantly knocking almost any Pokemon out.

Venipede was a lot easier to deal with but had a strong attack that would plague Ash during the battle. Venipede was also known to have intense endurance when it came to Pokemon battles, battling until they had absolutely nothing left in their systems. If she wanted, she could just out endure him, and Ash would be working to combat that solution.

After the accuracy training with Oshawott, Ash had him swim against the brutal current in an attempt to strengthen his endurance.

It went poorly at first, the current sweeping Oshawott away into a sleeping pack of Basculin that very nearly ate him alive for interrupting their precious sleep. After a while, though, things started to look up for Oshawott. He pushed against the vicious current and was beating it out, dodging objects like rocks and branches as he went.

Jolt's training went differently. She had to practice using her little stubs of legs to the best of her ability. Jumping, running, you name it, Jolt had to try and do it to the best of her ability. It helped a bit, but not a lot like Ash had hoped. He assumed that it might just be something that comes with evolution.

This whole training routine took at least a few hours for Ash to complete. It was a grueling process, but he now knew that his team was ready for the gym.

Oshawott and Jolt were panting in front of him, greatly exhausted from the activities they had participated in. Ash held out their Pokeballs and returned them mercifully, his Pokemon voicing their thanks from the realm that existed inside of Pokeballs.

Ash trekked out of the mountainous region that he was training in, looking at the abundant wildlife that surrounded him as he went. The cute Sewaddle were playing together with an unexpected Dunsparce joining in on the fun. The carnivorous Basculin swam around vigorously, awaiting one of the Pokemon to slip and fall in the river so they could have their awaited meal.

It was an amazing sight that Ash didn't get to see in either of his hometowns. The closest he got was with the Pokemon that were stored in Oak's ranch for their trainers to eventually come and train. Even those Pokemon were not wild and usually posed no danger.

Being in the wilderness had a completely different feeling than being around trained Pokemon. If he accidentally tripped and fell into the river next to him or went too far off into the woods and intruded on other Pokemon's territory as he had on his first day of adventuring, he could be wounded or worse.

That wasn't to say that it made Ash scared of the wilderness. Ash had grown up in Pallet Town, a small town that took pride in the variety of Pokemon and the grand environment surrounding it. It gave him at least a tolerance to the wildlife that he would be around.

Ash dramatically sighed upon seeing the large staircase that he had to climb to get back to Virbank, a venture he was not looking forward to in the least.

The sun beading down on the back of his neck, Ash reached the top of the staircase after a grueling minute of climbing. After walking for a few days straight, he needed downtime to relax.

For now, though, Ash had a gym battle to win.

He was confident in his strategy. Send out Jolt for Koffing, send out Oshawott for either a Grimer or Venipede, assuming those were the Pokemon she had on her less skilled team. He was somewhat confident in his chances to put his training to use finally and beat this pesky little gym.

The gate brought luxury back to Ash that he always forgot about, air conditioning. It was a blessing in his state of panting and he relished in it before exiting the gate for what he hoped would be the last time in a while.

Ash walked over to the Pokemon Center to give his tired Pokemon some rest before the big battle. He hoped he hadn't worked them too hard and he wasn't too tough on them. Those regrets were thrown out of the window when he remembered how Alder trained his Pokemon back in the days that he was champion. Alder showed him video footage that a news crew got of his most vigorous training routines, which consisted of more than he had done to his Pokemon his journey so far in a little over an hour. His Pokemon were well-conditioned, though, and were barely breaking a sweat after the grueling training routine.

Alder was of the most extreme cases, though, so Ash didn't worry about his Pokemon's training. He was barely six days into his journey after all.

His name being yelled by Nurse Joy at the counter saved him from being trapped in his thoughts for what felt like an eternity, and he stepped up to get his Pokemon. As he walked up, he noticed the emptiness that now sat in the seat Hugh had been earlier that day. A hurtful reminder of what was to come.

He grabbed the red and white-colored balls and stepped out of the Pokemon Center. It was his time to shine yet again, a feeling he hadn't felt in days. It felt like weeks or maybe even months by the things he had been doing.

Virbank had livened up a bit, as it was midday at this point. Few could be seen walking about and socializing with one another, and the same man he saw in the days prior was seen again near the bottom of the pier holding out a Great Ball, a coveted item by trainers, and giving it to what Ash guessed was a trainer in return for a normal Pokeball you could find in nearly any store across the region.

It was an odd choice, but everyone could have their own decisions to make, and Ash's was to be the greatest trainer. At least, for now, he thought it was.

The clubhouse that was the Virbank Gym seemed lively from first glance. Ash could hear music coming from the bottom of the establishment and wondered if they were holding concerts earlier than usual.

Those thoughts were put to rest by the sight of nobody in the halls. You could still hear music coming from the gym, so Ash was left wondering why they were making it. Maybe it was some private event, but Roxie didn't seem like she would be the type of girl to host those types of things, especially in Virbank.

He assumed that since he was a challenger he was granted access to the room that the gym would be in, so he entered.

The first thing he noticed was the overwhelmingly loud music. The music was so loud that you would think they had their own helipad underground where they played their music. Ash's hands shot to his ears, cupping his hands around them like his life depended on it.

The second thing that piqued his attention was the interior design of the place, and how it fully embodied Virbank City. The graffiti on the walls, the punk look, all of it screamed Virbank City.

Finally, he saw what was making that music and most likely designed the entire gym, Roxie. She and her two bandmates were at the front playing their music as well as they possibly could, but there was nobody to watch. And by nobody, Ash meant nobody but him and those three were in the room.

He expected a few people to be in there, but he could have been mislead by the music. It made him think they were performing for an audience, but they were only practicing it seemed.

The three musicians were completely and utterly focused on their music and nothing could take their mind off of it easily, so Ash decided that the best idea in this situation would be to wait for the song to finish.

It was clear in those short moments of waiting that Roxie was extremely musically talented and had a lot of inspiration for her songs. Right now, he was hearing a song about Pokeballs and what it might be like to be encapsulated in one, something Ash had always found fascinating.

The song came to a close with a high note from Roxie, and she finally opened her eyes and lay them upon the ten-year-old boy in front of the stage. Ash looked right back at her with a challenging gaze, which she gleefully returned.

"Ash! What's up?" Roxie asked as she stepped off of the stage carelessly, not minding the cans and other trash laid across the floor. "Not much!" Ash responded with a large smile on his face that reflected his excitement to finally begin this battle he had been preparing for days at this point.

"I'm guessing you're here for a gym battle," Roxie said with a serious expression slowly conquering her features. Ash nodded, mentally preparing himself for this monumental battle. "Good."

A strange sight took place in front of Ash's field of view. With the press of a button from Roxie herself, the stage began to unfold and the instruments automatically were transported to the side of the stage with what Ash had to believe was some future technology he had never heard of. Ash started to see the familiar sight of a light brown battlefield used across the region for indoor or sometimes outdoor battles.

Someone dressed in a shirt that had black and white striped covering it, and by the placing of them in the middle of the field on a higher point than the stands were Ash knew they would be this battle's referee. He also had two flags on either side of him, each used for different purposes.

"Like what you see?" Ash got brought out of his observations by Roxie's usual hyper voice that showed her love for the gym.

Ash could see why now.

At first, he thought it was just a dirty underground bunker that nobody would want to go to but he now saw the beauty of it. Also, anyone could tell by a look that the gym would have poison types inside of it, so it was very appropriate for the occasion.

"Woah," Ash said to Roxie, who snickered at his awe and sprinted up to her place in the gym vigorously. She looked like she was a kid again when she did that, but she had to remind herself of her position.

Ash started his walk to the stand where he would be battling and went over his battle plans again in his head. 'Jolt for Koffing, Oshawott for Venipede and Grimer' He thought to himself, confident that it would work.

There were few Pokemon she would have other than those three, so he hoped he was in the clear.

His heart began racing as it had before that fateful fight with Cheren. Ash was confident in his Pokemon's skills, but not his. He had only been a trainer for a few weeks and had not officially lost a battle thus far. He had to lose at some point, but he wasn't sure when that would be.

The referee stood up and began his speech, "This will be a two on two battle. Only the challenger will be allowed substitutions. Are these terms acceptable." Two sets of eyes were turned to Ash, who was nodding in acceptance to the rules presented. "The gym leader will release their Pokemon first."

Roxie grinned like a maniac and released her Pokemon. "Go, Koffing!" Ash saw the purple ball that was undoubtedly filled with noxious fumes that could kill on contact and knew his plan of action. Ash knew of Roxie's love for the Venipede line from her being at the ceremony he snuck into, so he was pretty sure she would have a Venipede as well.

"Let's battle, Jolt!" Ash released his beloved Mareep, who radiated electricity upon being released.

The Koffing across from her narrowed his eyes in challenge, and Jolt was more than willing to take that challenge head-on. Roxie smirked at Ash like a predator would with their prey, but Ash could tell she was somewhat impressed with his choice.

Koffing had the ability Levitate, a common ability among psychic and even some ghost types, but not much among poison types. Oshawott would have a tough time even landing a solid hit on a Koffing, so he sent in Jolt and her long-ranged superiority.

"Let the battle begin!" The referee shouted from his position on the side of the midpoint of the battlefield. Ash readied himself for a good battle that he wouldn't ever forget.

After waiting for a second and not hearing a command from Roxie, Ash decided that he would need to take initiative. "Thunder Shock!" A yellow beam of electricity shot out of Jolt at an unprecedented pace.

Ash looked to Koffing and saw that he hadn't moved an inch since he was released. 'Well, this is gonna be easy.' Ash thought to himself, still looking at the Koffing. He looked to Roxie in the split second before the Thunder Shock hit, expecting to see some sort of shock, but only saw confidence.

It was then Ash knew that this would be nowhere near as easy as any battle he had ever taken place in.

Koffing moved at a blinding speed, completely nullifying the Thunder Shock that sailed by him into the wall, where it fizzled out like it had never existed in the first place. "Anti-electricity walls," Ash looked up at the smirking Roxie with an understanding look on his face, "They're helpful."

Ash turned his attention back to the battle that he had to win. If catching her off guard with electric attacks doesn't work, he can at least try to paralyze Koffing and leave him open for more attacks.

"Thunder Wave!" Jolt's ears perked up at the sound of the familiar move and she prepared to use it. Roxie's eyes bugged out for a second before going back to their normal determined state. "Poison Gas!"

Ash knew exactly what that move could do to him, and he also knew that there was no other way that he could win this battle unless he slowed that speedy Koffing down. "Take it, Jolt!" Jolt nodded and braced herself for the incoming Poison Gas while still maneuvering her Thunder Wave so it would strike Koffing.

That decision put the first of many dents in Roxie's plan to beat Ash. She assumed he would act like most challengers would and abandon the Thunder Wave in an attempt to dodge only to find that they couldn't.

"This is gonna be good!" Roxie muttered under her breath as she watched her Koffing get struck by the paralyzing electric attack.

Unfortunately for Jolt, the Poison Gas attack hit its mark and Jolt inhaled the poisonous fumes that would slowly hurt her until she was treated for it. There was no permanent damage, though, and Ash wasn't worried about her safety inside of the battle.

Jolt yet out a yelp from being hit with the poisonous attack. She could already feel it starting to set in, so she would have to finish this faster than she had wanted to.

"Thunder Shock!" Roxie visibly flinched at the sound of that command. She knew that there was little to no chance of Koffing getting out of the way, si she would have to play by her own rules.

"Koffing, Smog!" A purple gas exited the pores on Koffing's body, slowly emanating towards the Thunder Shock that was still on its way to him. The Thunder Shock slowly died upon entering the cloud that was Koffing's Smog, making Ash's eyes widen.

Ash had expected the Thunder Shock to be able to penetrate a gas, but maybe not. "Koffing has been around electricity for nearly all of his life," Ash looked to the snickering Koffing who was still feeling the effects of the paralysis inflicted earlier, "Don't think you have the upper hand because you have an electric type." Ash nodded in acceptance to her train of thought. For the rest of the battle, he would be wary of Koffing's possible attributes.

"Smokescreen!" That move posed a major problem for Ash that he hadn't encountered thus far on his journey. There was no real way of consistently hitting targets without being able to see them unless your other senses were heightened.

So Ash decided to fight fire with fire, "Jolt! Double Team!"

Six more Mareep shot out of Jolt in a pattern that there was little to no chance Koffing or Roxie could know which was the real one. Roxie grinned, putting Ash on edge and ready for what was to come.

"Koffing, Clear Smog!" For a second, Koffing was immobilized by the effects of Thunder Wave and it didn't look like he would be able to perform the attack, but he pulled through and released a wave of mud that seemed to be glistening with some power.

Every single one of the copies was hit.

Ash had no clue how it was possible with Jolt's many copies, but every single one faded out upon being hit and Jolt stumbled over after being struck with the less powerful but still effective strike.

He hadn't even landed a hit on Koffing. Well, Jolt did land a Thunder Wave, but other than that nothing was happening to Koffing. He was starting to see Roxie's strategy of timing Ash out with the poison that was still taking a heavy toll on Jolt.

The smoke cleared and Ash saw Koffing temporarily immobilized by the paralysis and saw what might be his only chance to land an attack. Jolt also saw that Koffing's eyes were closed in pain so she obediently awaited Ash's command to attack.

"Thunder Shock!" Ash shouted to Jolt.

Roxie's eyes bugged out and she said, "Koffing, try and dodge!" Koffing did attempt to dodge, but it was in vain as his speed was gone because of the paralysis that left him open to attacks. The purple ball of fumes let out a pained groan upon being hit, showing Ash that his defenses were not as high as they could be.

It didn't matter, because Jolt was still slowly being taken down by the poison from earlier. Ash saw her seat herself on the ground, panting from exhaustion. "Thunder Shock, again!"

Jolt perked up and nodded, letting out another Thunder Shock towards Koffing. The bright yellow shock barreled towards Koffing, who was seemingly unable to move.

"Take it." Ash looked to Roxie in shock and was unnerved by the smirk on her face. Koffing wobbled a bit to show that he received her words and allowed himself to be hit by the powerful electric attack, wincing in pain during the process.

Ash could see a glint shine in Roxie's eyes, and he knew he was in for a horrible treat as soon as it happened. "Assurance."

In hindsight, Ash should have seen a play like that coming from a professional like Roxie. To be fair, though, he had never heard the move used before in his time at Oak's research lab in Kanto or while learning from Alder.

A black energy built inside of the Koffing as he took the pain that he got from the attack and brought it out again. He wanted to give that pain to someone else instead. He needed to get rid of it. Koffing looked down at poor Jolt who was exhausted and had little to no way of avoiding his blow.

'Perfect' Koffing thought to himself, eyes gleaming with horrible intentions. He rushed forward at breakneck pace and, while Jolt was sitting on the ground trying to get more energy, nailed her in the side and sent her flying into the wall connected to the stage.

"Jolt!" Ash screamed frantically.

Jolt herself was faring badly with the pain she felt. It was like all of the pain she had to deal with was just given back to her and she did not like it at all. She hadn't felt pain like this before, so she had no way to cope with it.

She looked to Ash in desperation and saw him looking back with the same expression. All she needed to do was power through this and land one more hit on Koffing to end the battle, but she couldn't seem to find the strength to get to her feet.

Her last thought before a white light like she had never seen before engulfed her was how she needed to win this battle for Ash.

Both trainers participating in the battle's eyes widened and jaws practically hit the floor in shock at what they were seeing. It was common to see this phenomenon outside of battles, but in a battle this important and at such a crucial moment was uncommon, to say the least.

Jolt felt her body change like never before. Sure she had grown, but nothing like this. She had heard of things like this happening to the Ampharos that roamed the outskirts of her old home, which she never believed until this very moment.

She felt a sharp pain throughout her body. After that, she felt the most calm she had ever felt before. The feeling of peace that washed over her body in a split second was incomparable to anything she had felt previously.

Then she felt the alien feeling of her new body.

She was a lot bigger and she felt stronger already. The fight still had taken its toll on her, but she had the strength to fight now. And she would fight this absolute demon of a Koffing.

Roxie was looking down in astonishment at the slowly rising pink sheep. It wasn't like this was the first time she had seen a Pokemon evolve like Ash, not even close, but it was at the worst possible time for the battle with Koffing's defenses already lowered. She had used Koffings Assurance as a finishing blow, not one to force Jolt's evolution.

Either way, she would now have to deal with the consequences.

"I know Brycen said that Jolt was close to evolving, but that was unexpected."

Roxie looked across her pedestal to the grinning Ash. "When'd you meet Brycen?"

"I met him after filming my movie with him. Also, your father told me to say that he says hello." Ash grinned at Roxie's face, which had emotions mixing like a witch's magical spells in a cauldron.

Roxie didn't have the greatest relationship with her father. She never did, he was a rule-following sailor that wanted Roxie to grow up and be like him while Roxie was a born rebel that fit right in with the feel of her home town, Virbank.

He was disappointed in her choice to be a trainer who also was in a rock band. What Roxie didn't know was that the disappointment he felt back then started to fade once he saw her having fun and doing well. After all, he was a father and fathers should support their children no matter what.

Ash shook his head at that last thought. He knew that was far from the truth in his case.

He didn't dwell on that thought for long. He had the battle to win, and he wasn't going to let Jolt down right after she evolved just so Ash could win the battle. He was proud of how far she had come, from being captured by Team Plasma to evolving in the middle of a gym battle one town over from where she grew up.

Koffing looked exhausted from Ash's point of view, so he knew he had a slight opening to cause a catastrophe for Roxie's battle.

Without a command from Ash, Jolt seemed to be performing a move on her own. Ash didn't know what it was, but it sent electricity crackling through her fur and making a protective layer around her.

Ash took out his Pokedex and let the neon blue light shine on Jolt's body. Ash scrolled down past the newfound information on Flaaffy and went right to the section dedicated to the specific Pokemon's moves. Instead of the moves capping of at Cotton Spore, it showed a new move Ash didn't know of.

Charge, a move that powers up electricity that releases upon the next electric attack and, while charged, creates a layer of electricity that protects the user from special attacks.

A multi-use move, and one that Ash found to be extremely useful. He would be using this move a lot more in the coming battles Jolt partakes in.

"Smog!" Roxie called out to Koffing. A purple gas shot out of his mouth and looked like it would be making contact with Jolt and possibly taking her out of the battle.

"Dodge!" Jolt's ears perked up and, without thinking, leaped to the side, negating the attack and leaving a major opening for a powerful attack.

"Thunder Shock! Full power!" Ash yelled to Jolt.

A grin grew on Jolt's face as she felt her new power start to rise. Her eyes widened at the feeling of the power that she had never felt. She felt untouchable in her new form.

The protective coat of electricity leaving, she released all of the electricity she had been building up with more from the base power of her Thunder Shock. It barreled towards Koffing, who was too tired to even try and dodge. He let it hit him right in the center of the two bones on his chest.

He never stood a chance.

In less than three seconds, he stopped trying to keep himself in the air and plummeted to the hard stage.

"Koffing!" Roxie screamed in desperation. It was of no use, Koffing was out of the battle and would need a good visit to the Pokemon Center before even thinking of battling again.

"Koffing had fainted. Gym Leader, return your Pokemon and release your next." The referee announced, looking at the field in shock. Ash guessed a challenger like him that beat Roxie's first Pokemon and had a pokemon evolve in the same battle didn't come often.

Roxie nodded her head and brought out Koffing's Pokeball once again, a groan coming out of the fried Koffing's mouth as he was surrounded by the bright red light and absorbed into the ball.

"I'm gonna be honest Ash, I really underestimated you," Roxie spoke while fidgeting with her belt to reattach Koffing's Pokeball and bring out the next, "I'm not gonna be doing that anymore." Ash was a bit intimidated by her dangerous tone of voice but reassured himself that he had two Pokemon, one that had just evolved and could take out her next Pokemon much more easily.

"Come on out Whirlipede!" Just like that, Ash's confidence drained out of his body just as fast as it had entered. He had to battle a Whirlipede.

Whirlipede had a fearsome reputation around the area Ash lived in. Venipede were just children and usually weren't violent unless provoked. Scolipede were like the adult form of their species, but, unless under strange conditions, harmless unless provoked by something, such as entering their territory. Whirlipede were in the stage where they needed to learn to defend themselves while also growing stronger and gaining respect for themselves.

One of their main ways to get that respect and power was through horrible violence.

Most of the Pokemon and Trainers who entered their territory unannounced left with various injuries and, in extreme cases, never left and decomposed on the very soil they fatally encountered a territorial Whirlipede. When children were told to not go out at night, Whirlipede were usually used as a primary example as to what some Pokemon were capable of.

Ash knew this Whirlipede wouldn't be a problem like some could be, but Ash still knew of their strength. He would have to rely on Jolt and Oshawott to pull through for him.

"Let the battle begin!" Jolt stared into the eyes of the horned bug in front of her. Her new evolution gave her confidence, but it also gave her more knowledge and awareness. Those new attributes were sure to let her know that this Pokemon was trouble.

"Jolt, use Thunder Shock!" Ash yelled out to his Flaafy. Jolt charged up her electric energy and let out a shock of electricity.

"Dodge." With confidence in her voice and posture, Roxie let out a simple, one-word command. Whirlipede obeyed instantly, speedily dodging the shock to the left.

Ash thought the attack would not affect, but he was proven wrong by the cry that came from Whirlipede. It seemed that the attack had just barely hit Whirlipede on the side, and that would be enough to do a good deal of damage.

Roxie whistled, "Wow. Whirlipede is usually able to dodge any attack that comes his way unless he's tired. That Flaafy of yours has a lot of skill to land a hit." Ash grinned in appreciation until he saw Whirlipede getting himself ready yet again, unfazed by the attack. He then turned his attention to Jolt, who was panting in exhaustion from the tolling battle she had with Koffing.

The plan he made was to return Jolt, a privilege most gym leaders granted their challengers, and bring out Oshawott to either defeat Whirlipede or at least damage him enough so that Jolt could take him out. It was foolproof and he was certain that he would win using it.

"Jolt, Return!" That was one mistake he made there. He called out that he was going to return Jolt. The mistake Jolt made was standing still with her guard down, waiting for the beam of light to take her back into the Pokeball.

Whirlipede turned one of the eyes in the middle of his body to Roxie, who nodded to Whirlipede. He already knew the plan and sped up as fast as he could to use Pursuit, a move that can hit Pokemon returning to their Pokeballs for double the usual damage it does.

Whirlipede used this move to strike Jolt as she was being returned and knock her out of the reach of the Pokeball. All eyes turned to the dust that got knocked up after the powerful move, Ash in shock and Roxie in confidence.

"Pursuit, a move that can cancel a Pokemon's escape and double the damage of the move doing so."

The dust that was kicked up by Whirlipede's speed and the impact of the attack died down. Whirlipede was seen at nearly full strength in front of Roxie while Jolt was leaning against the wall, fainted.

Ash returned her and whispered his thanks to her Pokeball for evolving and coming through when he needed her.

"So I have my ace, what's yours?" Roxie questioned.

Ash gave a smile while grabbing for his second Pokeball, "I don't have an ace. Each of my two Pokemon have their strengths and weaknesses." Roxie smiled at him in respect for his view, but she sure knew that one of her's was stronger than the other.

"Come on out, Oshawott!"

Oshawott's Pokeball opened to the rest of the room, releasing the uncommon sea otter. Oshawott was the normally least picked of the three Unova starters, but Ash knew he had many strengths.

"So an Oshawott it is. You're gonna have to work pretty hard to beat me with that" Now usually, Ash was level-headed in battles and didn't let others get to him, but this comment set him off. How dare she judge his Pokemon? She hadn't seen him battle before, and Ash knew Oshawott could easily beat some Pokemon others considered strong.

Oshawott was offended also, taking a step back and nearly growling in anger.

"Let the battle begin!" The battle referee shouted from a stand on the side of the battlefield. Ash knew it was time to win this battle, no way to rely on spontaneous evolution or a stroke of luck like he had beforehand.

"Defense Curl!" Roxie yelled to Whirlipede, who wasted no time getting right to it and curling the grey outer part of his body, thus raising his defense. Ash knew that this could hurt down the road, but it also gave him the perfect opportunity to make the move he needed to if he wanted even a chance of winning.

"Focus Energy!" Oshawott's eyes were closed right after Ash gave the command and Oshawott remained unmoving for a few seconds. Starting from his feet, yellow energy began to circle him until it finally entered his body. Oshawott's eyes opened and Roxie saw the energy still in his eyes, flowing about like it was natural and had always been there.

Not a word needed to be exchanged between the two trainers, they knew that it would just be to distract them from the battle at hand. Ash was more motivated than ever, as was Oshawott. Roxie was completely focused on the battle and didn't think about her band or her city once, something rare for her with how much she has to keep up with.

"Rollout!" Whirlipede began to roll towards Oshawott. Whirlipede had much less speed than he had when he took Jolt out with Pursuit, catching Ash off guard but showing him an opening he needed to take.

"Water Pulse!" Ash shouted to Oshawott.

Oshawott, in return, began building water between his fins-for-hands. That water grew in size as Whirlipede was making his way over to Oshawott.

"Hold it!" Ash called out to an unexpecting Oshawott. He wanted to let it go and make sure that he would get the damage off and not be hit but trusted Ash enough to assume he was in the right train of thought.

Whirlipede neared Oshawott and Roxie was confused about why Ash wasn't just hitting Whirlipede. Though she didn't expect the attack to land due to the speed Whirlipede possessed, it might be able to halt his attack if Oshawott's aim was good. She wasn't complaining, she would be getting a free blow in on Oshawott and her next Rollout would be more powerful than the last.

Oshawott and Whirlipede were mere feet apart, one about to land an attack and one waiting for his chance. Right when Whirlipede was about to slam into Oshawott, Ash made his move.

"Slam it right into Whirlipede's eye!" Roxie saw what Ash was doing. She would have expected the strategy from an experienced trainer, but not from someone like Ash, who she had seen days before this battle at the mercy of the entire clan of Scolipede and on the brink of death by their poison.

Whirlipede landed the Rollout attack, but just as he did, the powerful ball of water was thrown directly into Whirlipede's eye. The bug was thrown to the side by the sheer force of the attack. Oshawott didn't make it out unharmed though, falling to the ground and skidding a few feet before the struggle for both of the Pokemon to get up began.

'That shouldn't have been that powerful," Roxie thought to herself as Whirlipede slowly rose, staggering about. 'So what was it?' Just then, the memory of Oshawott's eyes came back to her, and she realized the mistake she had made by letting Oshawott use Focus Energy.

Whirlipede and Oshawott finally got back to normal, and Ash was slightly disappointed to see Whirlipede standing still and not wavering. He was hoping to use the confusion that was a side effect of Water Pulse to his advantage like he had against Cheren, but it looked like Ash would have to win fairly this time.

He still had a few things on his side, like how he had a Focus Energy set up for Oshawott and the use of projectile attacks that, to his limited knowledge, Whirlipde didn't have.

Speaking of long-ranged attacks, he needed to get back into the battle.

"Oshawott, use Double Team!" Ash had been saving Double Team during this battle for a while now, and he was glad he did. The look on Roxie's face indicated that she hadn't been expecting the move's use. Ash now had the upper hand.

Whirlipede looked at the copies of the pesky otter spread across the battlefield that he regarded as his home. In other words, Oshawott was in his territory and winning on it.

Whirlipede didn't like that one bit and started another Rollout, but this time, it was faster. Not faster to the point it was noticeable and worrying, faster nonetheless.

Ash and Oshawott didn't pay any mind to it and continued with their rigorous battle. Oshawott's copies were all lined up in a row and used Water Gun on Whirlipede.

One thing about Double Team that made its usefulness lower than it could be was that the attacks that the copies used wouldn't do as much damage. It would add up to the damage Oshawott would do if it was only him attacking.

The attack still landed it's mark and made Whirlipede slow down to a halt. Oshawott returned his copies into the original body and took a second to catch his breath. Double Team was already a hard move to pull off, using other moves during the duration of the move was pushing Oshawott to his limits. The worst part of it was that Whirlipede still looked fine.

Ash looked down at Oshawott, asking if he was okay and ready to continue. Oshawott looked right back at him and gave him a confident nod.

"Rollout, one more time!" Roxie yelled out to Whirlipede.

This time, Oshawott and Ash noticed how fast Whirlipede was moving. It was at least twice as fast as he had last time, and that was already faster than Oshawott had ever run.

There was little time to make decisions, and Ash had to think fast. "Use Water Gun, and hold it as long as you can!" Ash was certain there was no way out of this tough situation and decided to go with the option that would leave Oshawott with as little damage as possible.

Whirlipede faced the Water Gun head-on, powring through it and sending Oshawott flying into the gym wall. Oshawott closed his eyes in pain and the three people in the room's eyes turned to him.

"C'mon Oshawott, you can do it!" Ash called out. Hearing this, Oshawott started to struggle against the overbearing arms of pain that were latched around him as his head pounded and his body ached, begging him to stay down and lose the battle so he could make a visit to the Pokemon Center and get a good rest.

But he knew that losing wasn't an option for him. He had come too far and tried too hard to give up now. His webbed feet started to push his body up and he felt bits of his strength returning.

"Y'know, not many novice Pokemon can take one of Whirlipede's full power Rollouts." Ash eyes snapped from Oshawott's heavily breathing but standing body to Roxie's grinning face. It was like she was loving the thrill of this fight.

His assumption was true, Roxie was having the time of her life. Ash had been a great surprise for her, first evolving and taking out her prized Koffing and then taking one of Whirlipede's Rollouts to the chest and still wanting to battle.

Still, Roxie thought it was time to finish this battle once and for all. Whirlipede looked more tired than he had been in a while and Oshawott was half-dead, but neither was going to give up.

Oshawott heard Ash announce, "Use Water Pulse!" He built up the ball of water between his fins and let it loose, sending it right to Whirlipede.

"Protect!" A shield was built around Whirlipede in the blink of an eye and the Water Pulse was nullified. The smoke from the attack cleared and it was confirmed to both Ash and Oshawott that Water Pulse had no effect on Protect.

"Oshawott, now use Tackle!" Oshawott started his run towards Whirlipede and built up speed as he went, preparing himself to collide with the poison-bug type Pokemon.

"Take it." Roxie simply said to Whirlipede. Oshawott was confused by the command but wasn't about to let up a chance to get off a free attack on Whirlipede. The Tackle landed, and Whirlipede was sent back quite a bit and looked to have sustained more damage.

Oshawott strutted back to his side of the battlefield in triumph but was knocked down to his knees by an unknown force that struck him out of nowhere.

Ash was gobsmacked and confused by what just happened. "Poison Point, an ability that can poison the target when physically attacked," Roxie explained.

'Ah, so it works like Static.' Ash thought to himself. He had some experience with that ability because of Jolt. This was a lot worse though in his opinion.

He had to finish this battle fast.

"Oshawott, use Water Pulse!" Even in his weak state, Oshawott understood the command and built up the water between his fins for what might be his last time in the battle.

"Venoshock!"

Whirlipede started to vibrate, and Ash was expecting some kind of could to come out, but what came out was a beam of what looked to be acid. Ash wondered what made it different from the other acidic moves.

Oshawott released his Water Pulse just as he was hit by the Venoshock. The blast of purple acid blasted him back and left him on the ground, twitching.

Whirlipede looked at the grounded Oshawott in victory before he was hit in the side by Oshawott's Water Pulse that had avoided the Venoshock somehow. He was thrown against the wall close to him violently and had no time to react before fainting.

All eyes then turned to Oshawott, who was still struggling. His body was telling him to faint, body Oshawott's mindset was already so set on winning that he couldn't let that happen.

After a minute of struggling, he finally gathered the strength to open one of his eyes, confirming to the referee who won the battle.

"Ash, the challenger, wins!" Roxie was baffled at how Oshawott could take even one Venoshock from Whirlipede while poisoned. It didn't make any sense to her!

Ash cheered in celebration, expecting Oshawott to join him, but when he looked down he saw Oshawott sleeping peacefully. He returned Oshawott into his Pokeball and thanked him for the great job he did in the gym battle.

Roxie hopped off of her stand after doing the same thing Ash did and walked over to Ash's stand.

"Well, that was unexpected!" Roxie announced jubilantly. Ash numbly nodded, still barely processing what had happened. "It usually takes challengers a few visits to get my badge, but you got it in one try! Go you!"

A smile grew on Ash's face again as he looked to the wrecked battlefield. Roxie saw where he was looking and reassured him that they could easily cover the expenses.

The referee came by the two and handed Roxie one of the many badges they had. Roxie held it in her hand for a second before holding the same hand out to Ash.

"This here is the Toxic Badge. It's living proof that you beat my ass in a battle and had a little side effect of letting you participate in the Unova League. Take it why don't you?" Roxie laughed. Ash took her advice and grabbed the Toxic Badge from her hand.

It was like it glittered in the light, a purple light reflecting off of it. Ash inserted it into the correct spot in his badge case, looking back up to Roxie and asking if he needed anything else.

"Oh yeah," Roxie said, remembering something. She pulled out a Pokeball from her belt and held it out to Ash. "Remember when I said I'd give you a reward if you beat me?" Ash nodded in remembrance, wondering where this was going, "Well this is it."

Ash gave the ball a blank look, still not understanding what she meant. "A Pokeball?" It wasn't like Ash was going to refuse the gift, it's that Roxie had been hyping it up to the point that Ash thought it could be something big, like a Full Restore or a Great Ball.

"No silly, it's what's inside the ball!" Ash still gave the ball his blank look before a more understanding one graced his face. Then a look of awe took its place. "You got me a Pokemon?" Ash asked in bewilderment.

"Yup," Roxie responded.

Ash looked at the ball in astonishment, not believing he was given a Pokemon from a gym leader so freely.

"You can leave and heal your Pokemon now if you want," Roxie told him, snickering as she did.

Ash nearly bounced up the steps in excitement at his brand new Pokemon for his team. He wondered what it would be, but he knew he had to save that for later.

He entered the Pokemon Center and strolled up to the counter. He gave her his three Pokeballs and the kindhearted Nurse Joy took them back to heal them up.

Ash took a seat at the chairs, ready for the night to be over. Little did he know, this was just the beginning.


End file.
